Lost Memories
by Avrilla de Senetaz
Summary: A girl without any memory finds herself in hospital. When the persons of her old life suddenly arrive, she is more than confused. Why is the only person she recognizes Yusei? YuseiXOC
1. Prologue

Ok, I originally wrote it on german and translated it afterwards, so if you find any spelling or grammar mistakes or strange formulations, please tell me and I'll correct it.

So now have fun:

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_**Prologue:**_

Silently she sat there and stared at the wall.

A plain, white wall.

Everything in this room was white.

The roof, the blanket, the chairs, the table**, **even the bed she was lying in.

A white, comfortable bed.

The sun shone through the windows. It was a great day; the flowers were blooming and she heard the birds sing.

But she was bored..

She hadn't got anything to do beside searching for stains within this unbearable white room.

And that wasn't actually exciting.

Her body felt heavy, her throat hurt.

But she didn't know, why she was here.

Why was she in hospital?

Suddenly the door flew open and a man and a women rushed into the room.

The girl eyed them warily**.**

What could they want from her?

"Sela!", the woman exclaimed crying. "Sela, we've worried that much about you! Why didn't you contact us?"

~Sela?~, the girl thought confused.

The woman had come to her bed by now and was gently stroking her head, while the man was standing behind her.

The woman's tears made her feel remorseful. She didn't like tears.

"Eh..", she started and gently pulled back from the woman's hands.

"I don't want to be impolite, but who are you?", she asked.

* * *

Had fun?  
If yes, then please let me know so. I know it was short but it was just the Prologue.  
Tell me, if I should continue this, because it is difficult for me to translate it right.


	2. Past's Representatives

So, finally the first real chapter. Took me longer than expected to translate.  
It's much longer than the Prologue, which isn't really  
Just to warn you: I'm don't know much about medicine so I apologize if anything I tell about amnesia is wrong. Hope if there are any mistakes they aren't to serious.  
So nontheless: have fun reading!

Disclaimer: Hey, anyone out there who would believe me if I said I owned Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's? No? Hm, I probably wouldn't as well.

* * *

_**Chapter 1: Past's Representatives**_

The woman's eyes widened from shock. The Man looked distressed as well. Turning to her husband the tears still streaming down her cheeks the woman searched for his eyes. "Darling..."

The door opened and a nurse entered the room.

"Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Taheki. Would you please come with me for a moment?"

The woman flashed her husband a glance, then she nodded.

Still curious the girl observed both adults. Who the hell could they be?

They followed the nurse out of the room, leaving the girl behind; alone with her thoughts.

The nurse led the married couple to a little office where a young female doctor awaited them.

She raised to greet them. "Nice to meet you, I'm Dr Kano. I'm taking care of your daughter." The husband shook her extended hand. "I assume you are Mrs and Mr Taheki." she added.

The man nodded. He wrapped his arm around the shoulder of his wife and led her to the couch.

"So you're the parents of patient 53786. How was her real name again?" the doctor wanted to know.

"Selena." the woman answered with weak voice. "Selena Taheki."

Taking out a pen the doctor added the real name to the patient record.

"Okay. I'm really glad we eventually found relatives. I heard you have already visited your daughter. That's a little unfortunate. Because you probably already noticed that she is suffering from amnesia.  
She isn't remembering anything, nor, where she comes from, neither if she has any relatives or what has happened. A stranger brought her to us, a few days ago. She was bruised and much to cold. The stranger said, he had found her at the waterside of an nearby river, unconscious.  
We soon noticed, that she had lost her memory. She didn't know the answer to any of our questions such as where she lived or how she was called.  
This advertisement was our last hope to find out something about her past. I have to emphasize again, how glad we are that you found your way to us.", the doctor explained. "I'm sorry, just to be sure: The girl in the room, is definitely your daughter?"

"Hundred percent.", the man assured.

"Good, then you should visit her from time to time from now on. Sadly we aren't able to release her right now. You know, it is really difficult to treat patients with amnesia. Most recover their memory, if they are in familiar environment, but they still should remember one or two things before going there, otherwise the "familiar environment" might lead to a stimulus satiation, meaning she isn't able to handle all the 'new' information, which would only worsen her state. Unfortunately she isn't showing any signs of a returning memory so far."

Silence followed.

The married couple had to process everything they had just learned about.

The woman had stopped crying by now.

"Okay.", she said. "We definitely will visit her. You will inform us about any change in her condition, won't you?"

The doctor smiled. "Of course I will."

In front of the room the nurse stopped them. "You know about her condition by now but there is one more thing: Because she's suffering from amnesia but hadn't got any documents or an identity we gave her a … 'temporary-name'. Well, it isn't exactly inspiring confidence if you are called with a number or 'hey you' after having lost your memory.", the nurse explained.

"Should we address her with that "temporary-name" from now on?", the man wanted to know.

"Gosh, no! It is really important for her to get used to her old name once again. Of course she knows about her amnesia so she will probably accept her real name without any problem, she just might not react to it as fast as to her 'temporary-name.'"

"And how did you call her?", the woman asked.

The nurse let out a little laugh. "Well, we figured out our very unique system for naming patients. It is to complicated to explain it right now, but the name we came up for your daughter is 'Fate'."

Then she turned around and opened the door to the girl's room.

"Fate.", the nurse addressed her involuntary. "Er, I mean Sela. Your parents are here."

The girl lifted her head and looked at them surprised. "My … parents...?"

"Yes.", the nurse answered with a broad smile. "Your parents. Now I'll leave you alone."

With this words she retrieved.

Unsure the man and the woman stood in the middle of the room, feeling visibly uncomfortable.

"Please sit down.", the girl suggested and gestured to the chairs.

"Eh, thanks.", meant the woman.

Silence.

A unbearable silence

"How are you Sela?", the man asked.

"I'm okay. My body feels a little heavy but nothing really hurts.", the girl answered.

Silence again.

"Sela.", she noted, intending to start a conversation herself "So that's my real name?"

"Not exactly. Your actual name is Selena. But you always call yourself Sela.", the woman explained with a gentle smile.

"Hmm.."

A real conversation just wasn't about to get started.

Before she had been bored but now she would prefer it to the embarrassed silence.

Finally the man sighed. "You really don't remember anything?"

The desperation in his voice hurt her, even if she didn't know him.

With a sad smile she shook her head. "I haven't got any memory, I didn't even know my name. But I haven't lost any of my abilities like reading, writing or other things. Even though these other things kinda confuse me."

"Why?", the woman asked.

"Well, I figured out by now that dueling is really important and thus it isn't surprising for me to remember the rules but I don't only know the rules, but a lot of other stuff about it as well, like where the first card was drawn or when Pegasus found the first drawing of a duelmonster in Egypt. And I have to admit I haven't figured out by now how this knowledge connects to my old life."

The man smiled. "That's no surprise. Actually it's good that you haven't forgot. After all your studying duel-history as main subject on the Duel-University."

"Oh."

"Any other questions?", the woman asked. "I'm sure we'll be able to answer them."

The girl thought about anything to ask but in front of being able to voice any question the door flew open a second time this day and two children raced in, obviously twins.

„Sela!", a boy with green hair exclaimed and ran to her bed.

"Here you are." Overly happy he hugged her as good as it was possible with her lying in bed.

Even though she didn't recognize them she chuckled.

"Rua! She's in hospital. You should calm down a little!", the girl rebuked her brother.

"Of course, Ruka...", he replied but focused on the girl once again. "You okay?"

She smiled. "Mostly." Instinctively she petted his head.

"That's great! Then you'll soon be coming home with us, won't you?"

"Huh?", she answered dumbly, being a little confused.

She was living with those two children? Were they her siblings? They weren't resembling the couple which seemed to be her parents the least bit. Perhaps they were adopted?

Seeking for help she looked at the married couple.

Understanding her glance instantly the man stood up and led the children outside with a short excuse.

Now it was only her and the woman left.

"Rua and Ruka are the children of the president of a big company, Katsuo Atsushi who is an old friend of our family. Thus we already know the twins since they've been babies. And since you're quite some years older you've often been watching after them over the last years.  
You have to know, their parents are away on business trips most of time so they kinda employed you as some sort of nanny. You shall represent a parental person so they won't get lonely and have someone to talk and help them with their problems.  
Therefore you moved out of our house and are only visiting us on the weekends from time to time.", the woman explained and the girl thought she had heard a little pain in the voice of the woman when she had told her about the moving-out part.

"So I'm living with them.", she summed the information she had just got up to handle it. Suddenly a uncomfortable thought came to her mind. "Does that mean they are all alone now?", she worried.

"No need to worry.", the woman tried to soothe her. "First, the twins are used to be alone. You moved to them about half a year ago and they've been alone all the time before you did so it's no problem for them.  
And secondly, they aren't alone. The twins convinced their parents to allow another person to live at their place and their driver is regularly looking after them as well."

"Oh. That's good.", the girl said as she laid back down.

"Will... your husband explain them that I've got amnesia?

She felt remorseful for not calling the man 'dad' but it felt wrong to call someone she had met mere hours ago that way.

The woman noticed how she had searched for an appropriate word and her eyes brimmed with the hint of sadness. She nodded. "Yeah, he's gonna tell them. They aren't babies anymore; they'll understand."

A few minutes passed before the man and the twins returned.

"Hey.", she greeted them.

"Do you know, who we are?", the boy, who apparently was called Rua, asked.

His sister, Ruka, slammed her elbow into his side and hissed a rebuke. The girl was sure she had heard her hiss something about "She's got amnesia! Isn't it obvious she doesn't remember?"

"I know who you are. But only because I've been told just now.", the girl admitted.

The children looked at her sadly. "I'm sorry.", Ruka murmured.

"Oh, you don't need to be. It isn't your fault after all. And the doctor said the amnesia will go away."

The mood of the children lightened up immediately. "That's great! Then we're gonna visit you everyday from now on.", Rua announced excited. "Of course only if that isn't to exhausting for you.", Ruka added.

"Don't worry. I'm happy about every distraction.", the girl said.

Before she was able to say anything else the door opened and her nurse came in.

"Fate, it's time for your checkup. I'm sorry but the visiting time is over.", she explained the visitors.

"Understood.", the man said and raised.

"See you tomorrow.", Rua exclaimed.

"Till Tomorrow.", Ruka told her as well.

"So, do they seem familiar to you?", the nurse asked as she put on the blood pressure meter.

The girl already knew this routine. After all it was one of the only things she had any real memory of, since she had to endure it every day.

"No, I don't know them. Not a little bit. But I like them, especially the children.", she said, glancing out of the window deep in thoughts.

"Might that be a sign that I've known them before?", she voiced the idea as it crossed her mind.

"Possible. It's common for amnesia-patients to instinctively like persons they knew before.", the nurse agreed. "Could you please take of your top for a moment?"

Without any protest she followed the instruction. This was how her evenings always went.

Carefully the nurse touched the countless bruises. The girl winced and let out a little whimper.

The nurse sighed. "What the hell happened to you, Fate?"

It was a rhetorical question, but the girl answered nonetheless. "I've got no idea. But it definitely isn't feeling good."

"No surprise, you look like you've been beaten up and discarded into the river afterwards. 'Cause these cuts and abrasions clearly look like you've fell down from something.", the young woman guessed.  
She had been treating the girl since she had been brought here, so the two of them were quite familiar by now and the girl wasn't surprised as she added with a broad grin: "Like a fallen Angel. A fallen angel of destiny. Like we said: Fate."

The girl laughed but since her whole body started to ache from the sudden movement she clasped her arms around her waist.

"Of course, that would explain everything.", she replied ironically with a grin as she had had to stop laughing.

"Oh, I'm happy I could be a help to you."

The nurse put an ointment on the wounds, then she pulled back.

"Guess we're ready for today, Fate."

The girl put her top on again.

Suddenly the exhaustion hit her and she yawned.

The nurse looked at her sympathetically. "It was a quite exiting day for you. You better rest now."

The girl nodded.

Flashing her a last smile the nurse went to leave the room.

In the door frame she stopped and turned to the girl once again. "Good night Fate. Or should I call you with your right name from now on?", she wondered.

The girl shook her head. "I prefer not. Perhaps later, when I get used to it. Right now I'd like to keep a familiar name. After all everyone else will call me Sela from now on. But I guess that's okay since I actually like that name."

"Yeah, it's quite nice.", the nurse agreed. "See you tomorrow."

"Till tomorrow.", the girl answered. She had already laid back and closed her eyes.

As she heard the clicking noise of the closing door, she turned to look out of the window.

She left the curtains open most of the time so she could see the moon and the stars if she woke up in the middle of the night.

Right now the street lamps were emitting orange light like every evening.

It had been an eventful day for her.

Her old life had appeared or at least its representatives.

Of course she had been wondering where she had come from. If she had had family? Friends? How her social surrounding had been or if she had been rich or poor, reputable or disdained?  
But all the information had been a little to much for her

Nonetheless she looked forward to the visit of the twins tomorrow.

The only thing which made her feel a little uneasy was the fact her parents didn't even seem common to her.

She could only hope the doctor was right with saying this fact would change.

Now she leaned back and closed the eyes again.

A few seconds later she fell asleep.

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One Day in the story, one chapter. Fits perfectly, doesn't it?  
Like it? Then please click on the review button and tell me your opinion.  
Next chapter will probably need more than two weeks since I haven't even written it in german and translating seems to take its time.

One last thing: Anyone who'd like to beta me a little? Just scamming through a chapter for rough translation mistakes. I'd really appreciate it since I always think I suck at translation after finishing one.


	3. Recognition

First of all, thanks for the nice reviews; they make my day.  
So I worked hard to provide you another chapter.

Hope you'll like the result.

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_**Chapter 2: Recognition**_

"Might we already visit Selena Taheki?", a young girl wanted to know as she and her twin brother stood at the front desk.

"One Moment please.", the woman behind the counter replied and typed the name into her computer. "Yes, she already got breakfast one hour ago so she should be awake and able to greet visitors.", she announced. "Do you know how to get to her room?"

"Yeah, thank you.", the girl thanked and pulled her brother with her to the room she had already been at yesterday.

Carefully she knocked.

A muffled "Come in" made her open the door.

The girl was sitting on her bed, reading a book.

"Hey, you two. Glad you're here.", she greeted the twins with a smile and put the book away.

"Thanks. Watch, we brought you some flowers.", Ruka said and showed her the big bouquet.

"Wow, they are really pretty.", the girl admired them.

"We're happy you like them. After all those were your favorite flowers.", Ruka explained.

"Oh, at least I seem to have a good taste.", she noticed. "You might put them in one of those vases. I'm sure one of the nurses will get them some water." She gestured to the vase on her bed table.

"So, how are you?", she wanted to know of the twins.

"Shouldn't we be the ones asking? We're fine.", Rua answered rather calmly which was actually the first thing he had said since arriving.

It confused the girl. He hadn't seemed to be shy yesterday.

"Something up?", she asked.

He looked on the floor. Apparently he didn't want to answer but his sister gave him a gentle nudge. "Come on. Normally you aren't reserved or sensitive as well. She'll have to get used to it."

He shoot her a glance before facing the girl who already eyed him expectantly.

"You know, I thought, since you aren't able to remember any persons... you might be able to remember something different...", he started reluctantly.

"And what do you think this something is? Come on, tell me. It can't be that bad.", the girl prompted the boy to talk.

"Well, I thought you might remember how to duel, so..." He left the sentence unfinished, obviously feeling unwell.

The girl gave him a reassuring smile. "You know, I really remember how to duel. It's one of the things which made perfect sense to me right from the start."

Immediately the boy's mood went up.

"I took my deck with me. Do you want to duel me?", he asked excited.

The girl chuckled. Finally the boy acted the way he had as she first met him again.

"Somehow my deck survived the water in the river and didn't get lost. But I really don't know good I am or if the rules I know are really the actual ones since I haven't found any opponents here in hospital.", the girl explained.

"No pro. I'd love to be your first opponent.", he exclaimed and rushed to his backpack to take his deck and a blue dueldisk out.

As he did so a thought crossed his mind. "Do you've even got a dueldisk?"

The girl nodded. "Yeah, the nurse brought me one. It's in this little closet." She pointed to the side of her bed. "My deck is in there as well."

Instantly the boy jumped to give her both things.

"Thanks.", she said with an approving smile. "Well, guess we're ready to start. Good luck."

"Good luck." Rua answered.

Both put on their dueldisks on and extended their arms.

"Let's duel!"

The duel was long but both, the girl and Rua, enjoyed it.

She proved to be quite good as she eventually won.

Still Rua was much to exited from the duel to sulk about being defeated.

"Let's duel again. This time I'm gonna win!", he exclaimed.

The girl chuckled. "Sorry Rua, but I think one duel is enough for one day. You were a tough opponent."

"You're only afraid of me."

"Whatever you say."

There was no further dueling and the rest of the day passed rather uneventful but the girl enjoyed it nonetheless.

As Rua and Ruka had to leave at evening she almost missed them but they promised to visit her again the next day.

From then on the twins spent almost everyday in hospital with the girl.

She grew to like their company.

It was afternoon, one and a half week after the first visit of the twins.

Her memory hadn't returned, not even a little part. At least the wounds had started to heal but still hurt.

Thus she hadn't been able to sleep much during the last night, since she frequently woke up when she rolled on a spot that hurt. The pain was a good sign since it indicated the healing, but it sucked.

At 4a.m. she had finally brought herself to call for a nurse to get pain killers.

Sadly the five hours of sleep till the twins came hadn't refreshed her powers quite as well as she wished.

Being tired she had closed her eyes while Rua and Ruka were doing their homework.

The room was filled with complete silence and slowly the girl dozed off.

Suddenly a picture flashed in front of her inner eye.

A yellow mark, consisting of a yellow line which ended in a triangle.

Instantly her eyes flew open and she harshly inhaled.

Involuntary she touched her left cheek; tracing the form of the mark she had seen.

"What's up?" Ruka who had noticed the girl's confusion carefully asked.

"A mark." the girl breathed. She turned to the twins but her eyes were facing a point far away. "A yellow mark."

Repeatedly she stroked her left cheek, processing the image.

"A yellow mark?" Rua repeated and faced his sister.

She knew what her brother thought but before he could voice it she said: "We'll be right back." and dragged him outside.

The girl was too involved with herself to actually notice their disappearance.

On the corridor Ruka let go of her brother.

"Why did you drag me out?" he asked after huffing disgruntled.

"Because you were about to tell her about Yusei."

"So what? The mark belongs to Yusei and they will eventually meet, so why shouldn't I tell her about him?"

His sister was silent for a short moment, then she said thoughtfully: "Don't you think it's strange? She isn't remembering anything; not even her parents seem familiar to her. And without any reason she suddenly remembers Yusei's mark?"

"Okay, if you put it that way it sounds a little strange but I still don't see why I shouldn't tell her about Yusei."

"I'm curious how much she remembers about Yusei. If she would be able to recognize his voice or name him after seeing him. Might he be the key to her lost memories?"

"Do you really think so?" Rua asked with a doubting tone.

"Well, there has to be a reason he's the first thing she remembers. So perhaps it has something to do with her accident. Maybe she saw him or something related to him in front of passing out."

Her brother thought about it. "Sounds logical." he announced

"When is he finally through with all his work?" he added sounding slightly irritated. He hadn't seen Yusei a lot the last weeks, since he had quite a lot of challengers since he had become the new "king".

"We should probably tell him about Sela's accident soon. And that she is in hospital.", Ruka admitted sighing.

The twins hadn't told Yusei about Sela's disappearance since they hadn't wanted to trouble him and distract him from his "job" as the new king.

So they had lied to him saying she had gone on a short journey with her parents.

They often traveled so he had believed them without further questioning.

"Yeah, he needs to know." Rua agreed. "How 'bout telling him this evening?"

"Would be the best I guess."

The room was dark. There was no light in the rest of the house as well.

Puzzled Ruka felt for the switch.

A clicking noise affirmed she had found it and almost immediately the room lightened.

"Isn't Yusei back by now?", Ruka asked her brother who was standing right beside her.

"It doesn't look that way. Strange... he should have been back long ago." he answered thoughtfully.

But there neither was a trace of his D-Wheel nor of himself.

A shiver ran down Ruka's spine.

It had been exactly like this when Sela had disappeared. Ruka and her brother had watched a duel in the stadium together with Tenpei. In the evenings Chiaki had picked them up and driven them home.

Yusei had already told them he wouldn't come back that night and Sela had said she would be visiting her parents.

She had assured them she would be long back when they returned.

But she hadn't been there. Nobody had been there. The lights had been out.

They weren't used to Sela being late so they had tried to call her but she didn't pick up.

After waiting a whole hour she still hadn't showed up.

Starting to worry they had called Sela's parents to ask if she might have just forgotten about the time.

They had to find out she hadn't even showed up at her parent's place.

These had called the tops thereupon. As nobody had picked up they thought Sela and the twins had made a spontaneous trip and just forgot to call off.

After Ruka's call they instantly informed the police which started searching for her.

Yusei returned the next day. Still the twins kept the truth secret and lied to him instead.

And all those feelings, the fears bubbled up in Ruka as she saw the dark flat.

She stood rooted in the door frame while her brother had already made his way to the couch.

"Hey Ruka, come here.", he summoned his sister.

"What's up?" she asked as she moved to him, her voice sounding a little weaker than she had hoped.

"Here.", he said and pointed to a piece of paper on the couch table.

"It's from Yusei." she noticed delighted.

It mainly read he would stay over at Saiga's and that they should call Chiaki if something was up. He would return the next day.

"Thank god." Ruka breathed out and let herself sink into the soft couch. She had known her worries had probably been unnecessary this time but she hadn't been able to help it.

"But then we won't be able to tell him about Sela tonight.", she noticed after propping herself up.

"Why don't we write him a note as well?" Rua suggested.

Ruka shoot him a glance. "Don't you think that would be a little insensitive? I mean, we don't have tell him we're staying over at Tenpei's or got detention or something like that.

We kept it a secret that Sela disappeared and now she is in hospital, wounded and suffering from amnesia. It's a big deal after all."

"We should tell him about it as fast as possible so got any better suggestion?"

Ruka sighed. "No." she admitted.

Yusei had the nasty habit to turn his mobile phone off when he worked on his D-Wheel and since he was staying over at Saiga's he surely worked on his D-Wheel. And she had to admit she wasn't to expectant to tell him everything.

A note on the couch table! I can't believe I actually agreed to Rua's suggestion. Yusei's gonna kill us,

Ruka thought remorseful as she watched the landscape the window of the car.

She hadn't written much more than the fact that Sela was in hospital, how he could get to mentioned hospital and that he should ask at the reception for her condition first if he came to visit her.

She hadn't dared to write something about Sela's amnesia since she hadn't been able to come up with a formulation that sounded appropriate to her.

To be honest the whole note didn't sound appropriate to her but she kept telling herself it was still far better than keeping it from him any longer.

"You think Yusei's gonna be mad at us?" Rua hesitantly asked. Ruka was able to tell he didn't like the thought. Yusei was Rua's idol; what he thought meant a lot to Rua.

"He would definitely have a reason for it." Ruka simply replied.

Eyes closed, the girl lay in her bed.

She had fallen asleep quite late yesterday thus she was currently dozing. She registered the sound of the door opening and closing after someone had entered but she was much to tired to react anyhow.

"Morning Sela." a girl's voice greeted her.

A little startled she opened her eyes.

"Oh, it's you. Sorry, I passed out a little."

"No problem." Ruka waved aside. "More importantly, how are you?"

The girl smiled. "Quite well actually. Much better than a few weeks ago. Just my memories still haven't shown up.", she said almost apologetically.

"Oh, don't worry. The doctor said that's normal after all. Everything's gonna be fine on long term." Ruka assured her while she and her brother sat down. "And if your memory shouldn't return we'll be at your side to make new memories for you to remember."

Gratefully and touched she smiled at the twins. They had grown to be the most important persons to her, even more important than her parents, even though they visited her regularly as well. "Thank you. I really appreciate that."

"It's no deal." Rua announced. "But watch, we got you something!"

He pulled out a few books from his backpack. Since reading was one of the only things she could do to keep herself from getting bored the twins were already providing her with books for a little while. They only brought her the books she had liked the most and thus she really enjoyed reading them. It seemed her taste hadn't changed after all.

So the morning passed and afternoon crawled near.

The girl was reading one of her books while Ruka helped her brother with one task he wasn't able to solve by himself.

Suddenly the door was opened, controlled but quite energetically.

In the door frame stood a young male with raven hair and golden streaks.

For a few moments the girl and the newcomer just looked at each other.

The girl appeared to be confused.

Holding their breath the twins watched expectantly.

Finally the girl spoke, sounding a little doubting.

"Yu...Yu..sei?"

* * *

Ok, so that's it for now.  
You surely noticed I didn't write down the duel between Sela and Rua. That's because I haven't ever done something like this before and if ever should write a duel I'll need help.

So, if anyone wants to read a duel I'd appreciate help.

I'll try to update soon but I'm not able to promise anything.

Just remember, reviews always make me write faster ^-^.


	4. Worries

So, here's the next chapter. I grew used to update every two weeks on friday - I hope I'll be able to keep this up.  
The chapter's a little longer than the last ones actually.  
Hope you like it ;)

* * *

_**Chapter 3: Worries**_

„_Yu... Yu...sei?"_

The name was more a question than a statement, whispered only barely audible but you could have heard a pin drop at this moment.

The young male, Yusei, was visibly confused.

Carefully he completely entered the room and closed the door behind him, always keeping his eyes on the girl.

"Are you called Yusei?", she asked doubtful.

He flashed the twins a short glance then he answered: "Yes, that's my name. I thought you'd suffer amnesia."

"Well, I do." she replied, "I don't know why but for some reason there suddenly was this name as I saw you."

Suddenly her eyes enlightened. "Might that mean, my memory's slowly returning?"

She turned to Rua and Ruka. "My memory returns!"

"That's great.", Ruka said, "Rua and I'm gonna tell a doctor 'bout it."

Before the girl or Yusei had a chance to complain the twins were gone.

Embarrassed Silence enfolded.

"Please, sit down." the girl guessed, gesturing to one of the chairs.

Yusei followed her invitation.

Another Silence followed but this time the girl seemed to hardly think about something.

"Who are you?" she finally asked Yusei.

He looked at her, slightly puzzled, not knowing how to answer that question.

"Who have you been to me?" she elaborated it.

"'Who I was to you'?" Yusei repeated warily, still unsure about what to say.

"Well, why do I remember you but not my parents? There has to be a reason for it. And perhaps it'll help me to figure that reason out if I know who we were to each other." she explained.

"We're friends." Yusei simply replied.

He didn't seem to be a talkative person.

"And wherefrom do we know each other?" she wanted to know.

"When I came to Neo Domino I was in an accident. The twins took care of me and let me stay with them.  
A few day later you moved in as well and from there on we all lived together." he explained.

"So you were the one Mr. and Mrs. Taheki talked about when they said there was another person living with the twins..."

She noticed the bewildered look in Yusei's eyes.

He hadn't missed that she had called her own parents by their last names.

But she didn't really know her parents and to call complete strangers 'mom' and 'dad' just felt wrong.

As well as it was strange to identify with the name 'Sela'.

Suddenly the girl noticed how good she knew Yusei, meaning she could read even the tiniest motions, a shimmering in his eyes or the twitching of a muscle were enough for her to tell if he was puzzled or bewildered.

Just now she noticed this fact applied to the twins and the married couple as well.

She had been able read their body language really fast as well.

She was able to do this with everyone she had known before.

"Sela?" Yusei's voice broke through her thoughts.

Actually it wasn't really 'her name' that made her look up but more the slightly insecure undertone.

He looked troubled.

"Are you okay?"

She was surprised by the intensity of his question.

She had to have meant a lot to him earlier.

Studying him as accurately as she hadn't studied anybody before her glance followed his features, stopping at his eyes.

They were of such a intense blue color that she had the feeling to drown in them, unable to look away.

Instantly her throat went dry, even though she wasn't able to tell why.

"Are you okay?" Yusei repeated his question.

Originally she had intended to smile, but she wasn't able to. She didn't feel like smiling all of sudden.

"Everything's okay." she assured him sternly. "I've got amnesia but my wounds heal well. The pain-killers work. And thanks to the twins I've got some company most of the time. My ...'parents' visit quite regularly as well so I'm feeling rather good right now."

He examined her scrutinizing.

She withstood his glance.

Before Yusei was able to say anything more the door opened and the twins came in, accompanied by a doctor.

This one firstly looked at Yusei, then at the girl.

"I think you'd better go. She needs to rest if her memory really is coming back." he told Yusei and the twins.

Without further words Yusei rose.

He looked at the girl.

"I'll come back tomorrow." he promised her, then he turned around and left the room.

The twins shoot each other a glance, bid the girl a hastily farewell and followed Yusei.

The doctor turned to face her.

"So, what do you remember?"

On the corridor Yusei awaited the twins.

Rua already was at the front desk to say goodbye to the nurses that took care of Sela.

Since the twins visited her on a daily base Rua had made friends with them. Only Ruka approached Yusei.

"We're sincerely sorry for not telling you about Sela right away!" she apologized before Yusei had the possibility to say something. "We didn't want to bother you since you've got so much to do..."

"Never mind, we'll talk about it later. How did you get here?"

"Chiaki drove us. Why do you want to know?" Ruka answered warily.

Yusei ignored her question. "Good, then drive home already. I've still got to do something here and afterwards I have to pick up a spare part from Saiga." he explained but his thoughts already seemed to be far away.

Ruka shoot him a doubting glance, which he didn't seem to notice though.

"All right, see you then.", she bid him farewell.

"See you." Yusei replied and looked after her as she and Rua left the hospital.

As the doors closed behind them he turned around and hurried back to Sela's room.

In front of the door was a tag:

_Patient 53786  
__Selena Taheki  
__Attending Physician: Dr. Yui Kano_

It was a female doctor, so the one who had just come wasn't the attending physician.

Remembering the name Yusei went to the front desk.

"Excuse me, where do I find Dr. Kano?"

The nurse behind the counter checked a little timetable next to her computer.

"She's currently in her office: One level up, room 225."

"Thanks.", Yusei said and hurried to the second floor.

Room 225 was almost at the end of the hallway.

Beside the door was a name tag with _Dr. Yui Kano_, which affirmed him he was right.

After knocking a female voice prompted him to come in.

The room was rather small and artless.

The light of the already slowly setting sun streamed through two windows, in front of them was a desk, at the wall a loaded bookshelf and right in front of the desk was a couch.

Behind the desk sat a young woman who rose as he entered the room.

"How can I help you?" she politely wanted to know.

"You're Dr. Kano." It was a declaration, no question. "You're treating Selena Taheki."

Understanding shimmered in the eyes of the young doctor.

"Ah, it's about Selena. Well, like you already said I'm Dr. Yui Kano. And I estimate you're her boyfriend?" she guessed and extended her hand to him.

"Her _friend_." Yusei instantly corrected her and shook her offered hand.

"Why don't you sit down, Mr. Fudo?"

Yusei eyed her suspiciously.

Dr. Kano chuckled. "I might be a very busy doctor in a hospital slightly outside of Neo Domino but I watch enough TV to know the new 'king'. So, how about the couch?"

Yusei examined the couch.

"I'll prefer to stand." he finally declared.

"Well, whatever you want. So, what do you want exactly?"

Dr. Kano had sit down once again by now, entwining her hands.

"Information." Yusei factually replied. "I want to know what happened to Sela."

Even though he was quite well able to hide it his voice quivered a little. If it was anger towards the persons who might have hurt her or just worry; he himself wasn't able to tell.

Dr. Kano became serious. "We don't know ourselves.", she confessed with a sigh.

"The only thing we can do is make suggestions, based on her injuries and symptoms. The most obvious and most useless is her amnesia. Amnesia is normally caused by a strong force effect on the head like a hit or a tumble. However there can be mental reasons for amnesia as well, even if the amnesia is mostly only fractional in this case meaning there are only a few memories missing.

The next are her bruises and abrasions. These were caused by an external force but this force hasn't got to be human. She was found dripping wet and much to cold at the waterside of a river from which you can conclude that she fell into the river. The flow could've made her graze the ground of the river, resulting in the aforementioned abrasions.

With other words, we don't know anything at all. We aren't even able to tell if she was thrown into the river or if she dropped into it without any external influence.", admitted Dr. Kano apologetic.

Yusei clenched his fists. Now he knew as much as before asking.

"How long is she going to have to stay here?"

"Depends on how things progress. Her injuries are healing quite well; so if we'd go after their healing state we'd be able to release her soon. The bigger problem is her memory. We don't want to cause a stimulus satiation.", she explained.

"She has just remembered something." he informed her.

"I know, I'm gonna go examine her in a moment. I think it's a positive step but I don't want to promise to much."

Yusei turned his head to the setting sun, trying to organize his thoughts. It had been many information he had got today. And actually all of them had been unpleasant.

"I'm gonna visit Sela as often as I'm able to from now on. You're gonna inform me about every change in her condition, won't you?" he asked.

With a gentle smile Dr. Kano nodded.

"Of course." she replied and stood up.

"I'm gonna go to Sela now.", she declared.

Yusei understood the hint and left the room, followed by Dr. Kano.

"Well then, Goodbye. I'm sorry I wasn't able to tell you something more pleasant."

"Goodbye.", Yusei simply responded and shook her hand.

Then both dispersed into opposite directions; Dr. Kano heading to Sela's room, Yusei to the exit.

Outside Yusei got onto his D-Wheel.

He started but he wasn't driving into the direction of Saiga's apartment.

No, he needed time to think and thinking worked best for him while he was driving; the wind, the vibration of the roaring engine, the speed. All that helped him to focus on the essential.

When Yusei finally ended his ride the sun was already long gone.

He decided against driving to Saiga this night. The spare part would still be there tomorrow.

So he just send him a message and returned to the tops.

He didn't turn the lights on as he entered the flat since he didn't want to awake the twins.

It was routine to him by now to be quiet at night. For weeks the twins had slept almost every time when he came back. Today didn't seem to be an exception.

Exhausted from the long day he hung up his jacket, put his bag into a corner and was just about to head to his room when he heard the hushed sound of footsteps.

"Yusei?", the sleepy voice of a boy asked.

In front of the big floor-to-ceiling-windows Yusei was able to distinguish Rua's silhouette.

"Hey, why're you still up?", he gently wanted to know and moved towards Rua.

Rua rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and dropped himself onto the couch, obviously to tired to stand.

"You visited her doctor, didn't you? How is she?" Rua asked, sounding slightly meekly.

Yusei knew he was talking about Sela. "She's gonna be fine. The doctor's quite confident her condition's gonna get better soon. Perhaps Sela will even be released within the next week already."

That was a really optimistic statement, considering what Dr. Kano had told him today but he wanted to give Rua a little bit of hope. He and his sister had been alone the last weeks, alone with the uncertainty about Sela's whereabouts or well-being. They had had to deal with it all by themselves.  
That probably hadn't been easy for them, especially hiding it from him just to protect him.

Now as he finally knew it he wanted to provide them some peace and rest.

But even though he had heard a good message, Rua didn't react.

He sat on the couch, nervously fumbling with his hands in his lap; eyes directed to the ground.

Yusei sensed that there was something right now that bothered the boy more than Sela's condition.

Without words he sat down beside Rua. He didn't want to push him to talk so he let him take his time.

Rua's eyes wandered to Yusei shortly as he sat down but within an instant they looked back to the ground again.

Finally Rua averted the glance completely and looked out of the window instead, watching the lights that enlightened Neo Domino at night; the illuminated advertising and the display windows of the shops that never closed, the windows of flats in which the inhabitants didn't want to use the night to sleep.

Silently the words came from Rua's mouth, that silently Yusei almost didn't hear them: "I know we shouldn't have kept silent about it. Are you mad at us now?"

His voice quivered dangerously at the last words.

A gentle smile appeared on Yusei's lips. In all the energy Rua always emitted often drowned that he thought and worried about certain things exactly like his much quieter sister. You didn't always see it but he wasn't just as naive as he seemed most of time.

"Rua, you and your sister didn't mean any harm. You just wanted to protect me." Yusei said. "Look at me."

Reluctantly Rua turned and faced Yusei, dead serious.

"It's really kind of you and I appreciate it that you worry about me. But seriously, you don't have to protect me. I'm much older than you; I'm able to deal with such things quite well. You can tell me everything. _I_ am the one who should protect _you_ and stay at your side in such situations, not the other way round."

In Rua's eyes were shimmering tears.

"Then you aren't mad at us?" he asked and this time his voice was quivering _really_ dangerously.

Instead of answering Yusei just gently shook his head.

Now the restrained tears were flowing out of his eyes over his cheeks.

Coltish he threw himself into Yusei's arms.

"Thank god.", he muffled.

Yusei petted his head. "Everything's good.", he hushed the boy who regained his posture fast.

"Then everything's back to normal again?" he asked, beaming like he normally did.

And already was the thoughtful boy gone and the hyper Rua that seemed to change his mood every two seconds replaced him.

"Are you gonna join us right when we go to the hospital in the morning? We could drive together, I'm sure Chiaki's gonna let you drive with us as well and-" he high-spirited explained but Yusei cut him off. "Shh, you've got to be quiet, otherwise you'll wake Ruka up."

"Too late.", a low voice stated.

Yusei turned and saw Ruka standing at the foot of the stairs.

"Sorry that we woke you up.", Yusei apologized.

Ruka waved it aside and as she came to the couch as well to sit down Yusei was able to see she was smiling.

"Never mind. I'm just happy you're forgiving us."

"How much did you hear?"

"Enough to know everything's okay again.", she replied and Yusei was clearly able to hear the relief in her voice.

"Then you hopefully heard that there is nothing to forgive as well. You only did it because you care about me; I can't possibly angry with you for that.", Yusei explained Ruka too.

"Thanks.", she just said.

There was silence for a moment but it wasn't unpleasant, more relaxing.

Finally it was Yusei, who spoke first: "It's late. You should go back to sleep."

The twins nodded absentmindedly, simultaneous, then faced each other and started to giggle.

"After all we want to visit Sela tomorrow as soon as possible, don't we?" Yusei, who had already stood up, added with a slight smile.

Rua's eyes flashed with joy. "Does that mean you're gonna drive with us tomorrow?"

"I was the King for the last weeks, it won't hurt to take a few days off."

Instantly Rua was at his side, hugging his waist.

"Thanks.", he murmured and in the next moment he had let go of Yusei and disappeared into the direction of his room.

Ruka smiled after her brother.

"I should go as well.", she announced and yawned, as if to affirm her words.

"Good night." Yusei saw her off.

"Good night." Ruka answered and hugged Yusei as well, only for a split second before she also returned to her bed.

One short moment Yusei just stood there. Deep in thoughts he went to the glass-door, which led to the terrace with the pool. Almost unconsciously he opened it and stepped into the night air.

It was piercing cold since that high above Neo Domino the wind blew really strong. Yusei lifted his glance to the stars. He didn't know why, but it relaxed him to watch them. Perhaps it had something to do with Stardustdragon and its obvious relation to the stars, perhaps it was just that those stars were the same stars he had watched from Satellite. They gave him the feeling of being at home.

Right now they put his mind at ease as well, even though he was chiding himself.

He had been that busy the last weeks that he hadn't noticed the twins had had problems.

This wouldn't happen ever again he swore himself.

For a while he continued gazing at the stars, then he broke away. He didn't need much sleep but if he wanted to survive the whole next day he needed at least a little bit of it.

At the same time the girl was lying in her room, wide awake.

After the doctor had made those common tests, like measuring her blood pressure or taking blood samples from her, Dr. Kano had come to interrogate her.

That hadn't really got them any further information since aside from Yusei's mark and his name she didn't remember anything.

Nonetheless Dr. Kano had meant that was a good sign.

Uneasily the girl turned to her other side.

The day had given her a lot to think about.

One thing absorbed her the most: Why had she remembered Yusei?

The really short talk with him hadn't helped her to figure it out.

She hoped his next visit would give her better hints.

Her digital clock showed her that she still had to wait at least seven hours till he would finally come again.

Sighing she buried her face in her pillow.

It was going to be an exhausting and probably fairly sleepless night.

* * *

That's it for now.  
I hope I was able to keep everybody in character, especially Yusei and Rua.  
Would you mind telling me if I succeded in a little review ^.^?

Then hopefully till in two weeks :)


	5. Tasteless Slime

Yay, it's update-day!  
Sadly I was and still am in some kind of writers block, so this chapter is mostly a filler.  
Really sorry but I hope you'll enjoy it nonetheless:

_Note: I know the title's strange but the whole chapter's strange, so I guess it fits somehow._

* * *

_**Chapter 4: Tasteless Slime**_

A knocking snapped the girl out of her dozing.

Without waiting for an answer the door was opened.

The head of the nurse, Naomi, who always took care of her appeared in the door frame.

"Good morning, Fate. I got you breakfast."

With these words she entered room, carrying a loaded tray.

"Morning. To what do I owe the honour of not having to order the breakfast before getting it?"

"Well, since you're gonna get visitors today as well I thought, I won't hurt you to wake up a little earlier.", Naomi explained as she stalled the tray on the bed of the girl.

The girl eyed the food with mild aversion.

Slightly disgusted she took the spoon and started to pick at the thing she was supposed to eat.

"Nice idea, but you didn't have to. I didn't sleep this night anyway." she commented.

Curious Naomi eyed her. "That exited 'bout seeing the 'king' again?", she answered with a teasing tone.

As the girl shoot her an evil glance she raised hands in defense and laughed apologetically.

"Hey, I'm completely able to understand you. Every girl would be looking forward to a visit of him."

Another glance, then the girl studied her food. She was really tempted to give the nurse a little "taster" of it, if she continued teasing her.

"I hope you're only imagining what it might taste like.", Naomi broke her train of thoughts.

Stern the girl eyed her. "Maybe.", she finally simply replied.

"Well, if that's the case I'm able to tell you it's slimy but okay."

"Do you have to eat this stuff as well?", came the suspicious question.

"Not really, but I was as nice as to try it so you wouldn't have to suffer from food poisoning."

"How nice of you.", the girl noticed ironically but finally took the first bite.

Mildly disgusted she grimaced, less because it tasted bad in fact it was only boring, but more because of its slimy consistency.

"God, what I'm looking forward the most when I'm finally out of here is real food." she announced.

"Understandable.", Naomi said and a moment of silence followed.

"So, how are you?", the nurse finally asked, serious.

"A little tired 'cause of the uneasy night, but otherwise mostly unvaried." the girl answered soberly.

Naomi acknowledged the answer with a nod.

"And what's with your memory?", she carefully asked.

A sad glance followed this question.

"Well, I don't know how long it normally takes after the first memory but I don't remember anything more than yesterday. To tell the truth, even that thing yesterday didn't feel like a memory. I know that sounds strange but it was more 'knowledge', like knowing how to read and write, than a 'memory'; probably since it _was_ something I knew and not something I had experienced. Do you somehow understand, what I mean?", the girl tried to explain her feelings, sounding slightly helpless.

To remember Yuseis mark and his name was a progress, she agreed to that point but it didn't feel like a big success to her.

"I think I do understand. But everything's gonna be fine.", Naomi assured her.

The girl answered with a smile.

"Sure, don't worry.", she waved the matter aside. "But don't you've still got other patients that want to get tasteless slime?"

Naomi laughed. "Probably. I better go before someone's gonna rob our cafeteria."

"That'd be horrible. Then I'd had to miss the great food." the girl replied and took another spoon of her breakfast with ostentation but she instantly grimaced once again.

"Now then I'll say goodbye. Till this evening." Naomi said.

"See you, then.", the girl said and returned her focus to her food.

The clicking of the door told her that she was alone now.

Silently she ended her breakfast and flushed it down with a liquid that probably was supposed to be orange juice.

After doing so she put the tray on her bed table.

Someone would come to pick it up sooner or later.

Undetermined she looked around the room.

She had got a single room since Dr. Kano had said she should get a lot of rest due to her amnesia.

In the last week the room had got much more personal: The flowers of the twins were standing in a vase on her bed table, in which by now were beside her dueldisk and deck some books as well. Also the twins had made sure the table and the chairs they used everyday stayed in the room.

Originally they had wanted to hang up group picture as well, on which were they, their parents, her parents and a few other people she probably knew. The picture had been taken on their last birthday party but Dr. Kano had said that picture could've put her under the pressure to have to remember those people so the twins hadn't done it.

Right now she wished they hadn't. Meeting Yusei had suddenly awoken the wish to get to know the persons of her past. She decided to ask the twins for the picture when they came today.

Sadly her clock showed 9.15 am.

The visiting time started at half past nine.

So she had keep herself busy for at least fifteen minutes, if her visitors would arrive right at the beginning of the visiting time. Much more likely was that she would have to wait longer. Normally the twins arrived between ten and eleven o'clock.

Even though she was at a thrilling spot in her book she couldn't get herself to read.

Instead she looked out of the window with an empty gaze.

She had to align her thoughts before the twins and especially Yusei came. He had really agitated her yesterday, even though she didn't know why.

Why had she remembered him?

This was the question that dominated her thoughts right now; it pushed all the other questions aside, like what had happened to her or when her memory would return completely.

She was that caught up in her thoughts, she didn't notice as a black Mercedes and a red D-Wheel drove onto the parking lot of the hospital.

Yusei had turned the offer of the twins down, to ride with them and had took his D-Wheel instead.

Now they had just reached the hospital. He dismounted and stored his helmet in the space that was intended for it. The twins had got out of the car as well and saw Chiaki off.

"Here we go!" Rua announced bouncing up and down and stormed off to the entrance.

Ruka and Yusei followed him rather calm.

Most nurses greeted them with a smile.

Probably some of them didn't even treat Sela but only wanted to see the 'king'.

Beside the constant challengers and duels Yusei had by now got used to the fans as well, who came with his title.

He was experienced in ignoring them in a polite way, so they fast lost interest in him.

At Sela's door he knocked mostly out of good manners. He already knew she was awake and she awaited her visitors.

Nonetheless a few seconds more than expected passed before her voice invited them to come in.

She was lying in her, just like the day before.

On her face were a few abrasions and bruises, presumably only a little preview on what her whole body looked like. Right now a smile decorated her face which showed, that she either had no pangs or had just gotten used to them by now.

"Glad you're here." she greeted them and Yusei noticed that she sounded slightly hoarse.

Yesterday Yusei had came to know she had been found in a river, so it was likely she had caught a little cold. She looked a little more exhausted than yesterday as well, but she seemed to be happy about the visit nonetheless.

"Good morning, how are you?", Yusei asked, even though he mostly knew already.

"A little tired but apart from that quite good.", she answered. "And you?"

The question was directed to him _and_ the twins.

"Excellent!", Rua exclaimed coltish.

"Pleased to hear so.", she replied.

Yesterday the twins had already obtained another chair for Yusei so that all three were able to sit down.

"You mind if I doze a little? I didn't get to sleep a lot last night.", Sela asked.

"Not the least bit. Rest a little." Ruka answered. "Now that's Yusei here we've finally got someone to help us with physics."

While she said so she shot Yusei a questioning glance.

"Of course.", he affirmed. He had already helped the twins with their homework before.

"Okay, I'm off, meaning I probably won't really hear you, so don't bother talking to me." With these words Sela closed her eyes.

Only a few minutes passed before Yusei noticed that her breath slowed and her features seemed to relax.

After a last glance Yusei started to explain the twins some of the physical laws in a whisper.

The girl enjoyed the sound of Yuseis quiet voice as he talked about things she only understood if she was fully awake. This voice helped her to relax and soon she dozed off; the background noises blurred and became a consistent buzzing but she didn't dream.

She didn't know what made her open her eyes once again. As she did so, the first thing she saw was Yusei, siting at the table, watching her. Ruka sat there as well but Rua had disappeared.

"Morning.", Yusei greeted her.

"Morning." she replied still sleepy. "How long was I out?"

Actually she only would've had to turn her head to check the clock beside her bed but with her mind being clouded from sleep that idea didn't cross her thoughts.

Instead Yusei looked on the clock.

"Roughly four hours."

With a moan she sank back into the pillows. Somehow sleeping was almost the only thing she had done throughout the last weeks since at night her head simply wasn't able to shut down and in the morning she was that exhausted she just couldn't stay awake.

"Hey, where's Rua, by the way?", she wanted to know after she had sat up once again.

"He wanted to search a certain nurse to show her his newest cards.", Ruka explained.

Of course, she could've thought so herself. Just yesterday Rua had showed her his new Morphtronic-cards being completely exited.

Before she was able to comment on that her growling stomach distracted. Abruptly she noticed how hungry she was even though she had had breakfast a few hours ago because another disadvantage of the hospital food was that it didn't only taste bad but it didn't satisfy her hunger as well. The last weeks she had only survived because the twins had regularly brought her snacks.

"Hungry?", Ruka asked, smiling.

"Obviously yes. Even though I have to admit I'm not really eager to eat the hospital-food again. This morning I only had some strange tasteless slime." The thought alone was enough to make her shudder.

"Understandable. The day we ate together with you was enough for us." Ruka agreed.

"But it's probably better than to eat nothing.", the girl noticed.

Instead of replying Ruka seemed to think about something.

"I just had an idea. What do you think about going to eat somewhere in Neo Domino?" she finally suggested smiling broadly. "The food's definitely better there and perhaps it'd be good for you to get out of here for a change."

"Sounds great!", the girl agreed exited.

"We just have to ask Dr. Kano if you're in the state to go out.", Yusei interjected.

"Of course. But I don't believe there's gonna be a problem."

"Should I go get her?", Ruka offered.

"No, I better go to her myself. I mean, if I'm not even able to manage walking inside the hospital then how should I do so in Neo Domino?"

With these words sat on the edge of her bed and let her legs slip onto the floor. As she shifted her weight on them though she lost her balance and if Yusei hadn't been there to prop her up within a split second she presumably would've tumbled.

"Perhaps you're still to weak.", he quietly noticed, still holding her.

Energetically she shook her head. "I just have to get used to stand on my legs, that's all."

For evidence she made a step forward. She had already guessed it wasn't good to lie down for such a long time but the doctors had advised her to rest.

Another step.

After her legs hadn't carried her at the first step this one was mostly stable.

Another one.

Slowly she felt how the strength returned to her legs. Smiling she turned to face Yusei who still held her so she wasn't able to drop. "I think I'm able to go alone."

He eyed her slightly suspicious and with a little worry but let go of her nonetheless. To proof him she didn't need his help she walked to the table, still a little wobbly but successfully.

"Okay, then I should better go to Dr. Kano now.", she announced.

"I'm gonna accompany you.", Yusei replied and his tone indicated that he wouldn't accept any opposition.

"I'm gonna wait here.", Ruka said and continued studying the sheets that were lying on the table in front of her. Apparently she still was involved with her homework.

The way to the reception to ask for Dr. Kano was more exhausting than she had expected and as they finally reached the front desk she was happy Yusei was with her because she wasn't entirely sure if her legs would carry her bag to her room.

"Where's Dr. Kano right now?", she asked the nurse behind the counter.

The nurse didn't even look at the timetable. "She currently takes care of her patients and should come by again every moment."

"Good, then we'll wait here." Those words were mostly directed to Yusei than to the nurse.

She leaned onto the wall to unburden her legs a little. From the corner of her eye she noticed Yusei suspicious glances but she ignored them.

A few minutes passed in silence and slowly she got lost in her thoughts.

"Sela." Dr. Kano's voice pulled her back to reality. "What are you doing out here?"

"I'm waiting." was the spontaneous answer. "Ruka had the idea of me going out with them to have lunch in Neo Domino and I wanted to know if that would be okay."

Scrutinizing the doctor eyed her. "Do you feel strong enough? I mean, you spend the last weeks in your bed; your muscles surely must be weakened."

"It's okay. We're driving to the restaurant and if my legs give in Yusei can support me." the girl explained.

"Well, if you're feeling well enough it's overall a good idea to move a little. After all you're legs have to get used to the movement. And to release you you have to be able walk."

It was the first time the girl heard Dr. Kano talk about her being released. Until now the thought of leaving the hospital hadn't crossed her mind once and now she noticed it kinda scared her. Due to her memory-loss the hospital was the only place she knew.

"Sela?" Yusei's voice broke through her thoughts.

She slightly shook her head to focus on the important things then she faced Dr. Kano.

"Thank you.", she said. "I'll be back sometime this afternoon."

"Hope you'll have fun. Enjoy this little trip." Dr. Kano saw them off and hurried to her next patient.

"We should pick Ruka up, find Rua and go since it takes its time to get to Neo Domino, doesn't it?", the girl turned to Yusei.

"Yeah, we better get started soon. Do you feel good enough to get Ruka yourself? Then I'll search Rua.", Yusei suggested.

"Sounds good!", she replied much more energetically than she felt like but she didn't want Yusei to worry about her. However his glance revealed he mostly looked through her facade.

Nonetheless he left her alone to search Rua.

One moment the girl looked after him then she made her way back to her room.

Half an hour later she sat on the back seat of the black Mercedes, which Chiaki always drove, together with the twins.

The chauffeur had greeted her politely with a bow before he had opened the door for her. He spoke quite formal as well. After all the twins had told her of their chauffeur she had assumed them to be some sort of friends and close to each other, after all they knew him all their life. After noticing the bewildered expression on her face Ruka had explained her that Chiaki always was formal, even if they told him otherwise.

Right now the girl was gazing out of the window and watched the landscape fascinated.

It were green meadows, which she already had been able to see from the hospital.

After a few minutes the picture changed and she was able to discern the first offshoots of a gigantic city she identified as Neo Domino.

Agape in awe she watched how they slowly neared the city and the nearer they got the bigger it seemed to become. Soon the first skyscrapers appeared in her range of vision.

"It's_ huge_!" she noticed in amazement.

Ruka shoot her a glance; half amused half sad. Amused because the girl acted like a little child, sad because she was that impressed by the city, meaning she didn't remember it the slightest bit. "That's Neo Domino. You live here.", Ruka replied.

The girl gulped. Ruka was right. Originally she knew this city, or at least she should because it was _her_ city. But at this moment it frightened her. The city to which she would return in the near future, impressed her that much as if she had grow up somewhere in a small village.

Would she be able to cope with the city when she was released?

She could only hope her first visit would disperse some of her worries.

* * *

So, actually it got quite long for being a filler.  
I'm on vacation for the next two weeks so the next chapter probably will be there in three weeks at the earliest.  
But I guess that's enough time to get out of a writers block and to write a _good _chapter once again.

But you'll write a review for this one as well, even if it only was a dumb filler, won't you? *puppy eyes*


	6. Fortune Cookies

Okay, so here I am with another chapter. A day late but hey, better late than never!  
I haven't got that much to say, just that I decided to start answering reviews from unregistered readers in front of the chapters from now on since I get that many nice ones I just have to write a reply to.  
So anyone who didn't write an unregistered review might skip the next part to start reading the next chapter:

StarGazer: Thank you for your reviews^.^ Its always great to hear I kept the charas in character.

kaka: well, I'm not really sure how to reply to this one but thanks for liking the story...

m3: Thanks. I hope I can keep the story interesting.

TsubasaWitch: Thank you, thank you, thank you. I think as an authoress its the biggest compliment to get told your OC is believable. Hope I can  
keep her that way.

Okay, enough chit-chat, here comes the chapter:

* * *

_**Chapter 5: Fortune Cookies**_

Almost 20 minutes passed before they finally reached the first streets of Neo Domino. The whole time the girl was glued to her window, inhaling the new and admittedly a little intimidating impressions. In the outlying districts the houses weren't that high and even looked partly run-down.

This changed abruptly as they got near the downtown.

Suddenly the houses got higher and all facades were stainless, most were even completely paned or mirrored.

The girl instantly noticed as they reached the real downtown. Everywhere were illuminated advertisements and fancy decorated display windows tried to lure the people in their shops. And it was crowded, everywhere she looked.

The thought of her having to mix in with those people made her feel insecure. At once her legs felt as weak as they had back then in the hospital; they felt as if she hadn't moved them since two weeks and the thought of standing up made her feel slightly sick.

She wasn't able to move back into this city, she just wasn't; she would drown in all these persons, she thought panicking.

As suddenly a hand wrapped around her's she almost jumped from shock, even if the security-belts would have kept her from doing so. The hand belonged to Ruka who eyed her worried.

"Are you okay? You look so pale." she noticed and her worry was clearly audible. "That's all to much for you, isn't it? We shouldn't have taken you from the hospital."

Pulling all her self-control together the girl shook her head.

"No, no. Everything's fine. It's great to be able to catch some fresh air for a change." she assured Ruka. Feverishly she searched for a plausible excuse to explain her paleness.

"I'm just feeling a little nauseous because I'm not used to drive in a car anymore.", she finally added. Understanding reflected in Rukas glance.

Just to be on the safe side the girl smiled at her reassuringly before returning to her former action of observing the city.

_Pull yourself together! Of course the first impression is overwhelming but you already lived in this city so you will be able to get used to it once again! _she chided herself.

In this moment a red D-Wheel passed in front of her window and the girl was able to catch a glimpse of Yusei.

_Besides there are enough persons who will help me to orient myself._

* * *

The girl hadn't got the slightest idea where they were as the chauffeur, Chiaki, drove into the underground garage.

"Is this our goal?" she asked.

"Yep, that's it!" Rua cheerfully announced. On the whole ride he had alternated from complaining about his empty stomach to praising the restaurant they were heading to.

A few times the girl had tried to find out to which kind of restaurant they were driving but Rua had decided that it should be a surprise.

"Don't worry, you love the food here." Rua assured her as he hopped out of the car only seconds after Chiaki had turned of the engine.

Ruka followed her brother outside.

_I_ used to _love_ _the food here. _the girl corrected Rua in thoughts and instantly chided herself for being that pessimistic. Until now the twins had always been right when telling her she liked something. Why should that change now?

Suddenly the door on her side of the car was opened. She had stayed in the vehicle long enough for Chiaki to get out and open the door for her.

She hastily got out of the car to not make him wait.

For a short moment she stumbled but she regained her posture before anyone could notice her stumbling.

"Shall we go?" Yusei asked as he emerged from the shadows. He had parked his D-Wheel at a spot further from the entrance. The slightly worried glance he shot her told the girl that he hadn't missed her stumbling even if she had hoped he would.

"I'd like to." she replied powerful to show him she was alright. "I'm really curious were you led me. Rua didn't want to tell me." At the last words she eyed the young boy.

He only grinned. "Come and see."

Then he turned and dashed towards the elevators. After a few meters the girl noticed that only Ruka and Yusei were behind her.

"What's with Chiaki? Isn't he joining us?"

Ruka shook her head. "Chiaki always insists on being treated like an employee. We always have to force him to eat with us, at least if we're going out. At home he's much easier to convince." she explained.

"I see..."

"Hurry up a little!" Rua prompted them. "I'm about to starve."

The group reached Rua just as the doors of the elevator opened.

Impressed the girl noticed that the elevator had buttons for 20 floors. The lamp beside the 18. floor glowed from which she deducted that that was their goal.

"Do there live any people in this house?" she asked fascinated.

"No" Ruka replied. "This is an industrial building. Every floor is leased to a business. A few are offices; on most floors are restaurants, cafes or bars, but from fifth to tenth floor are shops."

"Yeah, on the seventh floor is giant card shop. You have to visit it! How about going there right after lunch?" Rua announced excitedly.

"Perhaps another time." Yusei interjected. "I guess this trip is going to be exhausting enough for Sela."

At the same time he searchingly glanced at the girl.

She didn't like to admit it but he was right; she already noticed the unusual movement wear out her body.

"The idea is great, Rua. It's a tempting offer but I have to agree with Yusei. I don't think that I'll have the strength to go with you to the card shop after lunch." she sadly explained Rua.

"No pro." he waved aside. "Next time."

"Rua, how about you going to the shop together with Ruka." Yusei suggested.

"And what's with Sela?" Rua asked.

"I can bring her back to the hospital." Yusei explained.

"Sounds good, doesn't it? Then Yusei drives with Sela and Chiaki. We can walk home from here. It isn't that far." Ruka added.

"Is that OK?" The question was directed toward the girl.

She was just about to answer as a little *pling* indicated that they had reached their destination. The doors of the elevator opened. She stepped outside with amazement as she eyed the foyer. It was completely decorated in a chinese style.

On the walls were painting in red and gold which showed chinese dragons an phoenixes; a little ripple came from a fountain left from her: The water flew in a little stone trench before dropping in an artificial waterfall into a small basin which resembled a little pond.

In front of her was the real entrance to the apparently Chinese restaurant. A label over the entrance read _Kim Long._

"That's an impressive decoration." she said admiringly and forgot the others for a short moment.

"You already said so when we were here for the first time." Rua noticed.

"It's no surprise." the girl simply replied. "Oh, and Rua, it's no problem for me if you go to the card shop with Ruka. You two visited me almost almost daily in the last two weeks. It's more than enough if Yusei accompanies me back."

"Okay, then it's decided." Rua said. "And now, let's get movin'. I'm hungry."

Right behind the entrance a waiter awaited them.

"A table for four persons?" he politely inquired.

Ruka nodded. "That'd be nice."

"Follow me." With these words the waiter turned around and led them through the well-attended restaurant to a table right beside a giant window.

"Is this table okay with you?" he wanted to know.

"Definitely." Rua answered and already chose a seat next to the window. Ruka sat down beside him and the girl took the seat opposite to Rua.

From here she had the feeling she could see the whole city but she knew, that she wasn't able to. In every directions her view was crowded with houses which stretched almost till the horizon and she wasn't able to see an end to the city. From time to time there were places were a lot of skyscrapers stood close to each other. Between these sections were lower houses, probably residential buildings. The only thing she could see beside the houses was the blue shimmering of the sea which bordered the city on one side.

"Where do my parents live?" she suddenly wanted to know. She had brought herself to accept Mr. and Mrs. Taheki as her parents and thus call them that way as well. If she referred to them with their surname it always unsettled everyone even if it was only for a second. But in this second neither her parents nor the twins or Yusei were able to hide their disappointment about her not being able to remember them.

"Somewhere in this direction." Ruka answered her question and pointed into the direction that lay behind the girl's back.

She turned to look at the place to which Ruka pointed.

"They have a small house a little outside the middle of the city." Ruka continued. "It takes you about half an hour to get to their house if you go by car."

One moment the girl simply stared into the direction, then she asked her next question, this time a bit hesitantly: "And... where do you live?"

"Didn't we tell you? There, in the Tops."

This time it was Rua who answered. He pointed directly to the highest skyscraper she could see.

"In there?" she asked taken aback. "And on which floor?"

"Of course in the highest!"

"Right on the top?" she assured herself disbelievingly.

"Yep. We live on the roof in a way. There even is a pool." Rua bragged. "Our flat is the highest point in whole Neo Domino!"

"Wow..." was the only thing she could reply.

Sure, she had already suggested that the twins, or to be more precise their parents were really wealthy, after all the twins had their own chauffeur but she hadn't expected that they would be living in the highest flat of the city.

A waiter brought her back to reality as he gave them the menus.

With a little nod she thanked him.

All the dishes sounded foreign but delicious nonetheless.

Still she had difficulties to decide.

"Should I recommend you something?" Ruka offered her help

"Hmm?"

"Number 114." she simply replied.

Curious the girl flipped to the side with the 114 on it.

"Chicken on 'Titpan' with Hoisin-sauce?"

Ruka nodded. "That used to be your favorite food."

"Well, then I guess I can't be that wrong with it." With these words she closed her menu.

After a few minutes the waiter came and they all ordered their dishes.

"Well, now we have to wait." the girl noticed as the waiter was gone. "So, tell me a little more about the tops. How many floors do they have in total? How many rooms has your flat got?"

The next twenty minutes till the food arrived almost only the twins talked. They didn't only tell her about their gigantic flat but mentioned the huge business buildings of their parents as well. The girl found out they were the richest business-owners in Neo Domino. Rua was in the middle of telling the story of his last visit in the office of his father as the waiter brought the food.

The girl eyed the steaming food admiringly.

"It seems you'll have to end your story after eating."

* * *

"I guess we should better get going soon." Yusei interrupted the conversation that had arose once again after they had almost inhaled their food because it was that good. "The doctors will start to wonder what's taking you so long."

Surprised the girl looked on the watch which she had got only a few days ago. It was a present from her parents with the justification that she back then wouldn't leave the house without her watch.

Now it already showed shortly after 4.30p.m.. They had had that much fun the time had passed without them really noticing.

"Guess you're right." she agreed. "But don't we still have to pay?"

Ruka grinned. "Not necessarily. Because we're regular guests they've got our bank details. Thus our bills are always directly payed from our parents' bank accounts if we don't say otherwise. So we're free to go whenever we want."

"If that's the case..."

As the girl stood up she noticed that even though the hours had seemed to have passed in an instant they had they had left their mark: she was much more exhausted than she would have expected, especially since she had sat most of the time.

Yuseis attentive glance lay on her just like it already had the whole day but this time she didn't give him any reason to worry.

Right in front of the exit they were stopped by a waiter who held a basket out towards them.

"Thank you for your visit. I hope you'll bless us with your presence again soon."

In the basket lay four fortune cookies.

The girl took one and left the restaurant first.

"So, you're going to visit the card shop now, won't you?" she said to the twins as they waited for the elevator.

"That's the plan." Ruka answered.

Her brother was already busy with his fortune cookie.

"Ha, I knew it!" he exclaimed.

"What's up?" the girl wanted to know.

Proud Rua showed her his fortune.

It read: _If you use your powers in the right way you're gonna be really successful._

"I'm gonna be really successful."

The first part about using his powers in the right way he totally skipped.

"Sounds good." the girl replied smiling and petted his head.

"Today's a good day." Rua announced and turned to his sister, grinning broadly. "I have to buy some cardpacks. I bet there's gonna be a strong monster in one of it!"

As the elevator finally arrived Rua instantly hit the buttons for the seventh and the first underground floor.

"Did Chiaki spent the whole time down there?" the girl worriedly asked out of sudden.

"No need to worry. He went for a walk; he always does. He says when he spends the whole day behind the steering-wheel a little walk relaxes him more than chinese food. I sent him a message when we stood up. He should be there in a few minutes if he isn't already." Ruka explained.

"That's good."

The *pling* indicated that the twins had reached their goal.

Fast the girl bid them farewell and thanked them for the lunch.

Then she was alone with Yusei.

"You don't have to come with me. It's okay if Chiaki drives me back.", she noticed.

"I'd rather accompany you." Yusei replied and the tone in his voice showed that he wouldn't argue with her. "I only have to properly lock my D-Wheel then we can drive."

"Okay." she answered sheepishly. The truth was that she was quite happy that Yusei insisted on coming with her. She enjoyed his company even if she wasn't able to tell why. His calmness always put her mind at ease.

Another *pling* then the doors opened.

"I'll be right back."

With these words he disappeared into the direction of his D-Wheel.

The girl however already went to the black car that was parking only a few meters from the elevators.

Chiaki was nowhere to be seen.

Even though she expected the car to be locked she tried to open it.

Yet as her fingers wrapped around the handle she heard a mute clicking noise and an electronic voice announced: "Selena Taheki recognized. Car unlocked."

Shocked she withdrew her hand.

"Fingerprintscanner." a calm voice behind her said. "They are built into the handles and have certain profiles uploaded. Thus you can enter the car even if I'm not there to open it."

Doubtful the girl pulled the handle but the door really opened.

"Impressive." she told Chiaki who had already got in. "Do all cars in Neo Domino have such a fingerprintscanner?"

"No, it's a custom product for A.I.."

"A.I.?" she questioningly repeated.

"Atsushi Industries, the company of Mr. and Mrs. Atsushi." Chiaki explained.

"Ah yes, the twins told me about the company." she replied before she turned her attention to the fortune cookie which she still held in her hands.

After a little fight with the wrapping she finally held the pastry. It didn't took her much power to break the cookie into two halves to reveal the white paper of the fortune inside it.

Curiously she read the fortune.

* * *

With proficient movements Yusei secured his D-Wheel so he didn't have to fear it being gone when he returned to get it.

From some distance he was already able to discern Chiaki on driver's and Sela on the back seat as he went back to the car. She was staring on something in her hands like she was mesmerized.

He was still a few meters away when she looked up. She was able to hide her exhaustion quite well but he still saw it.

"Hey." she welcomed him with a slight smile.

"Hey." he replied.

Her smile was real but something seemed to trouble her. He noticed that she had her right fist balled tightly as if she was holding something.

He assumed that her sudden change of mood had something to do with whatever she had looked at in front of his arrival. Still he didn't ask her about it. If she wanted to tell him she would do so.

"Well, since we're complete I'll start." Chiaki informed them and turned the engine on.

A few minutes passed in silence before Yusei took the initiative.

"Did you enjoy the little trip?", he asked.

"Very much. The food was awesome." Sela answered.

"Glad you liked it."

There was a short pause before she hesitantly said his name.

He looked at her questioningly.

"You said that we met shortly after you came to Neo Domino, didn't you?"

He nodded. "That was a few month ago. Why do you want to know?"

She avoided looking at him and faced the window instead. He was sure he could still see fascination in her eyes even though it was shadowed by worry.

"Well, I don't want to be invasive but I wondered if you _came _to Neo Domino, where did you live beforehand." she finally asked.

One moment he just studied her, then he answered: "I come from Satellite. Actually inhabitants of Satellite aren't allowed to enter Neo Domino. As I trespassed they caught me and marked me with this criminal mark." As he said so he pointed to the yellow sign that started right under his left eye.

She had returned to watching him by now and her gaze instantly followed his fingers to the mark.

"Why did you come here if it was forbidden?"

He knew she was only curious but he still wasn't able to suppress the cold rage that was sleeping in the depths of his heart, always resurfacing when he thought about the reason for leaving Satellite. Even after dueling Jack it hadn't completely faded away.

"I had a score to settle with someone." he answered short-spoken.

He didn't want Sela to think that his bad mood was caused by her. Her silence however told him he hadn't really succeeded.

"A... friend of mine, who's from Satellite as well, came to Neo Domino before me and... he took something with him that was really important to me and which I had to get back."

"Did you get it?"

"Yes."

For some minutes there was only the humming of the engine.

As Yusei finally looked into Sela's direction he saw that she had closed her eyes.

"You're okay?" he asked worried.

She faced him and smiled but the exhaustion was clearly visible.

"Everything's fine. I'm just really tired." She chuckled. "Isn't it strange? Out of my bed for barely three hours and I'm already having a hard time holding my eyes open although I sat most of the time."

"Well, after all you almost didn't move in the last two weeks. We're still gonna need about half an hour before we reach the hospital, so you can take a little nap if you want." he advised her.

"Yeah, I guess I'm gonna do so."

Then she re-closed her eyes and leaned against the window.

He observed her while her breath calmed down. It only took her a few minutes before she was asleep.

Involuntary he examined her features. They were calmer but strangely emotionless. Whatever she dreamed, he had no chance of finding out about it by studying her.

Yet he noticed that her fist was still clenched around something.

With a mute sigh he leaned back.

How fast live could change completely. One month ago everything had been utterly normal. He had fought his challengers on a daily base, the twins had went to the academy throughout the week and Sela visited her courses. Their everyday life might have been a little monotonously but it had been pretty much carefree which he hadn't been used to when he still lived in Satellite.

From time to time the twins had convinced Sela and him to go on a little getaway with them and Sela had visited her parents at least once a month.

And now everything had changed. Sela was sleeping next to him in the car on their way back to a hospital; her injuries were only faintly visible but still there and she had amnesia.

From one day to the next their everyday life had entirely got lost. Because now there was a task which had highest priority for him as well as for the twins: They had to take care of Sela.

Absorbed in thought Yusei pulled out his fortune cookie which he had got in the restaurant. Actually he didn't like the cookies that much and he usually let Rua have his one since the little boy was absolutely fond of them but today he had kept it.

More to distract himself than because of real interest he ripped the wrapping open and cracked the cookie. He pulled out the white piece of paper and looked at it with disinterest.

As he read the fortune he had to grin inwardly

Actually he thought these fortunes were pointless but he had to admit that sometimes it was almost scary how good they fitted certain situations.

His fortune read: _A person who's close to you will be very grateful for your help in a difficult situation._

* * *

"Sela." Yusei gently tried to wake her up as they finally reached the hospital. Carefully he shook her shoulder. "Sela, we're there."

With a mute complaining noise she shrugged her shoulders so his hand fell down and snuggled closer to the window; eyes still closed.

It was obvious that she didn't want to wake up.

Briefly Yusei wondered if he should try it again before he decided that there was a much easier way.

Without another word he got out of the car and went to Sela's side. "Should I help you?" Chiaki wanted to know who suddenly stood next to him. Apparently he was able to guess what Yusei was up to.

"It'd be the best if you'd open the door. Then I'll be able to catch her before she falls." Yusei suggested.

Chiaki just nodded and opened the door.

Instantly Yusei was there and held her. Quickly he unfixed her security-belt. Then he wrapped his arm around her body and lifted her out of the car.

Probably it was the opening of the door on which she had slept that woke her but now she opened her eyes and looked at him dumbfounded.

The sleep still seemed to cloud her mind and her eyes showed him that at first she wasn't able to understand the situation.

He didn't wait till she was fully awake before he moved towards the hospital.

"Yusei!" she complained as her eventually dawned what was currently happening. She had blushed deeply. "What are you doin'? Let me down."

"You refused to wake up so I thought it would be better for you to keep sleeping. You looked really worn out."

"But now I'm awake." she pointed out. "You can let me down."

They had reached the foyer by now.

"If you think so." Yusei gave in and set her down.

He accompanied her to her room. After Sela had laid down in her bed her eyelids almost dropped once again even though it just quarter to six.

"Good night. It was nice that you went to lunch with the twins and me today. We'll visit again tomorrow." Yusei told her.

A sleepy smile appeared on her lips.

"Today was the best day I'm able to remember." she answered, looking really happy but Yusei was able to hear a slightly melancholy in her voice.

Since she had already closed her eyes he didn't respond anything but instead left the room as quiet as possible.

He was just about to turn and leave the hospital as an female voice held him back: "Yusei!"

Behind him stood Dr. Kano.

"Hey, good I still catch you. I am allowed to call you Yusei, aren't I?" the young doctor asked.

"Sure. What do you want to talk about?"

"Firstly, how's Sela?"

"Overall good." Yusei answered after a short hesitation. "She's really tired and probably sleeping already but she enjoyed the afternoon."

"And how did she react to the city? I'm sorry for sounding you out but especially amnesia-patients tend to not always tell the truth because their are afraid to hurt anyone with their missing memory. Like: 'How can you have forgotten me after all we've been through!' So, how did she react?" Dr. Kano wanted to know.

"Mainly impressed but a little intimidated." Yusei recalled what he had observed on the ride.

"That was to be expected. Now I don't want to keep you any longer. It's gonna take long enough to drive back." Dr. Kano released him. "Oh, and I think this trip was a really good thing. That way Sela will get used to the city and her old life bit by bit. You can repeat this from time to time."

Yusei didn't exactly know how to answer to that so he simply said: "I'm glad to hear that. Today was a welcomed change."

He nodded to Dr. Kano for goodbye then he turned and left the hospital.

* * *

Dr. Kano however wasn't able to leave the hospital just yet since she still had some patients look after.

"Naomi?" she called after the nurse who took care of Sela.

"Yes, Dr. Kano?"

"Could you move Sela's treatment to 8.00 p.m? The day was really exhausting for her and a few hours of sleep before her examination won't hurt anyone." Dr. Kano explained and gripped one her patient-records.

"No problem." Naomi replied and made a little note on Sela's record before stuffing it into the repository in front of Sela's room.

In this room the girl had already fallen asleep a few minutes ago.

Only a few moments after Yusei had left her room the tiredness had won.

With her last power she had put the slip of paper, which she had still held tightly while sleeping, on her nightstand.

Now it lay there, being quite scrunched so that it wasn't possible to read the fortune.

But the girl knew what it read.

She knew that the fortunes in fortune cookies weren't to be taken too serious but still this one had fitted her situation that well it just hadn't let go of her since it had been like salt into an open wound.

The little white piece of paper read:

_Your past will show you the way to your future._

* * *

Okay, that was the longest chapter I've ever written so far. Hope it wasn't too long. I just couldn't stop myself while writing -.-'

An Announcement: Since school will start again for me next week (;_;) I won't get to write as often as throughout the holidays, so I probably will only be able to update once a month.

Just so you don't wonder where I've disappeared to.

Well, I'll try to update as soon as possible.  
Till next chapter.


	7. Returning To The Place Once Called Home

I'm so so sorry T.T. I know I promised to update at least once every month but school hit me harder than expected and even though I got over 120 Hits for the last chapter (Thanks for that and *Yay*) inspiration somehow didn't come to me... Thanks to Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, LovelyLittleShadow16 and StarGazer though, for the reviews for last chapter.

But e, I'd rather let you enjoy the next chapter:

* * *

_**Chapter 6: Returning To The Place Once Called Home**_

When she opened her eyes she was surrounded by darkness. The street lamps had been turned off. Here, outside of the city, they weren't needed because there wasn't anyone outside throughout the night.

Her even breathing was the only noise in the otherwise silent room.

Why had she woken up? There hadn't been a noise to startle her or a bad dream.

Now that she thought about it there hadn't been _any_ dream she was able to remember.

She shoved the thought aside. Probably she had just forgotten about it the moment she woke up.

Feeling still slightly tired but not tired enough to go back to sleep she sat up in her bed.

The room, which was usually painfully white, was completely covered by the darkness which made everything look a different shade of gray.

She wasn't even able to recognize the color of the flowers that stood in a vase on her bed table.

A faint smile graced her lips as she gently touched the soft petals. Rua and Ruka had brought her these flowers after their first bouquet had withered.

Suddenly she felt something pull on her insides. At first she wasn't sure what that feeling meant but as her gaze fell on the window, the pull intensified. As if in trance she stood up, her gaze locked to the window, and walked over to it. Turning the handle she opened it to inhale the cold, fresh night-air deeply.

The whole sky was plastered with stars. The lack of light caused them to shine even brighter.

But there was another source of light: Neo Domino. Situated in quite some distance the city still was clearly visible due to its lights which seemed to make it glow.

Surprised she noticed that the pull inside her was longing. It was only a faint feeling, fear and uncertainty still kept her from going enthusiastic, but she definitely _wanted _to return to this city. Or perhaps not the city but to the twins. _And to Yusei._

She didn't know what it was on him that always captured her attention but she felt herself growing addicted to it. Could this indescribable something be what triggered her memory?

For the first time since awaking in a world foreign to her, she smiled while thinking about her lost memories, her lost past. For the first time there wasn't only the regret, the helplessness or the uncertainty but an eagerness to find out what she had experienced. Her heart started beating faster with excitement as she imagined what she would remember.

She stood there for god knows how long, only gazing at the city and letting her thoughts roam free.

Finally it was a shiver that made her break away from the view. Unnoticed by her the cold of the still quite chilly spring-night had crept into her bones, eventually forcing her body to signal her that she better closed the window soon and got back under the warm covers of her bed unless she wanted to be stuck in hospital any longer with a serious cold.

Obeying her body's orders she reluctantly pulled away. One last glance then she made sure to not get distracted by the world behind her window again that night by drawing the curtains close.

Back in the admittedly comforting warmth sleep caught her faster then she had expected it to and she soon was fast asleep.

* * *

"Sela." a voice disturbed her sleep. "Wake up."

She grunted and just turned around, burying her head in her pillow. But the urging didn't stop and as a hand started to shake her shoulder she groaned loudly and shot up into sitting-position. Even though the sudden movement made her head spin she didn't take the time to look at the intruder before harshly snapping: "What?"

The male youth in front of her looked at her, his eyes glistening apologetically.

"Sorry for waking you but Dr. Kano said it was time for you to get up or you'd miss your CT-appointment." Yusei explained.

For a few seconds she just stared at Yusei as if her brain still had to catch up with the former action, then a crimson blush started to cover her cheeks as she noticed she had just snapped at him.

"Sorry." she said, averting her gaze in the hope he wouldn't notice the full extent of her blush.

"No problem." he replied and something in the way he said it made her face him once again. "Actually it's good to see you still not like being woken up." he added and she thought she might've seen a little smile play around his lips.

And even though it was no real smile it made her smile back at him.

A few moments passed in silence where they just looked at each other before she finally broke away, embarrassment already painting her cheeks pink again.

"What time is it?" she wondered, shifting so that her bare foot were touching the floor. "I thought my appointment was sometime around midday?"

"It is." Yusei assured her, having moved to her side to support her as she stood up. "It's almost 12.30h by now."

At that statement she almost gaped at him.

"It's past 12pm? How's that possible? I never slept longer than till 9am by now!"

"Well, actually you did quite often." he told her, a faint amusement audible in his voice, mixed with something she couldn't identify. "You always were more of a night owl, spending the nights, going to bed at 4am to sleep till 4pm, if you're schedule allowed you."

"Oh. I have difficulties imagining that. In the past weeks I've been feeling half-dead if the time ever passed 10pm." she admitted quietly.

Yusei seemed to feel the topic was making her slowly feel uncomfortable for he didn't reply anymore but instead led her outside.

They met Dr. Kano at the counter.

"Sela, good to see you finally awake. How are you feeling?"

"Okay, I guess. A little dizzy but I guess that's due to being awake for mere ten minutes." she summed up.

Dr. Kano acknowledged the answer with a nod and took a last look at the patient-record. "Then please sit down." she finally suggested.

The girl eyed her questioningly. Where should she 'sit down'? But as she shifted her gaze to the young doctor's left side she understood: There stood a black wheel-chair.

"I don't need that thing." she declared slightly offended. She had stood through the day before without any problems. She wasn't _that _weak. "I may still be a little sleepy but I guess I'll still be able to manage the way to the CT."

Dr. Kano raised her hands defensively. "I have no doubt in that. Still it's better for you to rest whenever you're able to. And I'm afraid you'll have to leave your support behind: There's something I've got to discuss with Yusei."

The girl still eyed the wheel-chair with suspicion, wrestling with her pride. Should she give in? There wasn't really anything she could loose. And it was more than understandable to be weak after lying in bed for two weeks. So what was the matter?

As she was on the edge of refusing the wheel-chair again Yusei gave her a slight nudge.

She heaved a sigh as she reluctantly pulled away from him to sit down in the wheel-chair.

Dr. Kano gave her a grateful smile. "Good, Akemi..." the nurse who had stepped behind the wheel-chair waved her hand in greeting. "...will bring you to the radiology. I'll be there in a sec."

The nurse was about to roll her away yet the girl stilled her movement by raising her hand, telling the nurse to stop.

"You know, you can talk about everything concerning me while I'm present. I want to know about my condition as well." she reminded Dr. Kano. It made her feeling a little left out if they knew more about her than she herself.

Dr. Kano just flashed her a reassuring smile. "Sure, no problem but you're already late so you'll better get going soon." With that she gave the nurse a mandatory nod, urging her to finally go.

The nurse obeyed without any complaints and turned around, taking the girl with her.

The girl's first impulse was to glance over her shoulder. She restrained from doing so though, keeping her gaze locked on the floor. She knew she should trust them. They wouldn't decide on something that would be bad for her. They hadn't given her any reason for distrust so far.

_And where will I end up if start I distrusting everyone... I'm only gonna get paranoid!_

* * *

"So," Yusei said after Sela's figure had vanished behind a corner. "what is there to talk about?"

"Can we talk while walking? I still have to check on one patient urgently." Dr. Kano inquired and picked up the needed patient-record, already starting to move down the hall.

"Sure." he answered and followed her.

"Okay, Sela's condition's getting better and better. Actually she's probably as healthy as she'll get in quite some time. Physically."

Yusei raised an eyebrow questioningly, noticing how the young doctor put special emphasis on that last word.

"That CT-Screening. I scheduled it to be her last examination. If we won't find anything—and I highly doubt we'll find something—that means we're through with her physical treatment." she explained. "The only reason to keep her here is her psychical state. You yourself told me how intimidated she was by the city. This hospital is the only place she really knows and we can't risk to worse her condition by straining her psychically. Still, we can't keep her in here forever."

_So she is physically in the state to return home but they're worried about her psyche_, Yusei summed up for himself.

"When do you think she'll be stable enough to come home?" he asked.

"I do hope in a few days at the most. She's been making great improvements over the last week she spent with the twins."

"That's good to hear."

They had reached the radiology by now. "I suggest you wait here. It's gonna take round about half an hour, then I'll be back with her."

Yusei just nodded in affirmation before he went to the plastic-chairs to sit down.

They weren't exactly comfortable. Still he had the feeling he had sat in them for much to long over the last weeks. It wasn't only in the hospital—after all he had firstly been to the hospital the day before yesterday—no, in the stadium he also had sat on such stupid plastic-chairs while he waited for his next opponent. It had gotten quite normal for him.

Even back in Satellite they had had better chairs. They had picked up an old swivel chair from a scrapyard. He kinda missed that chair.

He inwardly smiled at how his thoughts had digressed over a simple chair. He instead forced himself to think about what Dr. Kano had told him. Sela was at least physically healthy again. A good message. And she would be able to be released as soon as her mental state allowed it.

Maybe Rua's plan wasn't as bad as it had sounded at first...

"_We're gonna stay here today." the little green-haired boy announced right after Yusei came out of his room this morning. His bafflement didn't show on his face, he knew. It never did._

"_Okay, and why? I thought you visited her everyday since you heard she was in hospital." he inquired and made his way to the kitchen to get a mug of coffee. He had grown quite addictive to caffeine over the last weeks. He highly doubted he would've been able to stand through them without it._

_Rua followed him right on track. "Yep, but we're still gonna see her today."_

_As he didn't continue Yusei turned and raised an eyebrow._

"_You're gonna bring her home." the boy explained with a proud smile plastered on his face._

"_Rua, I'm very sorry, but she isn't in the state to be released yet." he replied. He had thought the twins were aware of that fact._

_But instead of looking taken aback Rua vigorously shook his head. "No no. You misunderstood. She isn't going to _stay _here. You're just going to convince her to come over for a few hours. Just like the lunch yesterday."_

_Yusei resisted his first urge to answer that wasn't possible. Because actually that wasn't such a bad idea. Perhaps it would help Sela to see her old home, her old room. Perhaps it would get her home faster._

"_You know, that doesn't sound bad." he finally told Rua after sitting down at their breakfast-table. "But why are you gonna stay home?"_

"_To prepare the house." Ruka answered. She stood at the foot of the stairs, grinning._

"_Prepare?"_

"_Hmm." Ruka nodded. "We're gonna clean a little..." Yusei noticed Rua wince. "...and we're gonna decorate it. Buy some new flowers, put on new table-cloths, and so on."_

_Yusei considered it for a moment, then he carefully nodded. "You know, I think we should try it. But I can't promise you she'll come. She was quite exhausted yesterday."_

"_Oh, if she doesn't want to come tell her I'm sick or something like that." Rua suggested, earning glares from both, Ruka and Yusei. "What?" he asked defensively._

"_Yusei's definitely not going to lie to Sela. If she's to exhausted she's to exhausted. No arguing." Ruka chided her twin-brother._

"_Okay, okay. It was just a suggestion." Rua sulked._

_Yusei sensed the atmosphere in the room growing more tense so he changed the topic by standing up. His mug was empty by now. "I'm sure I'll be able to convince her to come here without lying. I bet she's anxious to see her home." He intentionally phrased it so, that the twins would understand the positive meaning while he actually meant the negative one. Because yesterday Sela had been rather intimidated than thrilled by the city._

_Still, he hoped the best as he shrugged into his jacket and left the flat, bidding the twins goodbye._

The 30 minutes passed disturbingly slowly. If he had had a clock Yusei was sure he would've checked it every single minute.

As his brain had almost gone blank the doors finally reopened and Sela in her wheel-chair and Dr. Kano appeared. Sela still looked very sleepy.

"How are you?" Yusei greeted her as they reached him.

"Not feeling exactly more awake after lying in a humming tube for roughly 25 minutes. But apart from that great." she answered and smiled. "So, what did you have to talk about?"

"We were talking about your condition." Dr. Kano said before Yusei could. "You're in a rather good physical state."

"So I may go home soon?" Sela turned her head to look at Dr. Kano who was currently moving her wheel-chair. The hopeful tone of her voice surprised Yusei.

Dr. Kano obviously seemed to be taken off-guard as well. "'May'? You wanna go home?"

Sela averted her gaze, facing the ground instead and fumbled with her fingers as if she was nervous. "Somehow. I woke up this night and watched the city." she confessed. Well, that explained why she had slept that long. "And I suddenly wanted to go back. That's a good sign, isn't it?" She sounded uncertain. And her smile had vanished.

"Yes, indeed. A very good sign." Dr. Kano hurried to reassure her. "I was just so surprised. After yesterday I thought you'd be... I don't know, frightened."

The corners of her mouth lifted. "At first I _was_ but now... I somehow _want _to go back."

"Well, then even though that comes a little unexpected, you can be released today if you want."

Sela almost gaped and Yusei had to fight a little to keep composure as well. Sure, he had planned on taking her home for a few hours today but her being actually released? That was—yeah, just like Dr. Kano had said: 'unexpected'.

"Really?" Sela asked dumbfounded but happy nonetheless. "Just like that?"

Dr. Kano nodded. "The CT was the last examination to do. Since you're through with that there's no physical treatment you need anymore that binds you to the hospital. You're still gonna need to come here for check-ups regularly, especially for you mental state, but otherwise you're free to go."

At hearing that Sela literally started beaming. "Are you okay with that?" she asked, facing Yusei.

"Why shouldn't I? I'm sure the twins would love it if you came home." he answered.

She nodded once, mostly to herself before she turned to Dr. Kano. "Then I want to go home."

"Okay, that's a very good development. If you feel like it, it's the best for you to get back into familiar environment since it might spark your memory." She passed Yusei the wheel-chair. "You can already go ahead to Sela's room to pack up her belongings. I'm gonna fetch the release-papers meanwhile."

With that she already hurried down the hallway and had disappeared a few moments later.

Yusei instead took off towards Sela's room.

"By the way, where are the twins?" Sela inquired.

"At home." Yusei answered. One moment he considered telling her they were decorating the house but then he reasoned Rua would probably want it to be a surprise. "They were quite tired yesterday and decided to relax a little today."

"Oh, okay" A few moments she was silent, before adding with a grin: "Well, seems I'll still get to see them."

"I'm sure they'll be very happy." he repeated what he'd told her before already. After all that was the truth. Especially Rua would probably burst with happiness. He had played strong but Yusei knew he missed Sela.

His thoughts were interrupted by their arrival at Sela's room. She instantly lifted from the wheel-chair to go over to her bed table. The little cabinet in its body was filled with Sela's belongings, mostly consisting of her duel-disk, her deck and tons of books.

"Can I help you?" Yusei asked. He felt quite useless the way he stood there in the doorframe.

She didn't even turn as she answered. "Not really. I haven't got that much here after all."

So he just stayed motionless.

"How is it?"

"Huh?" he had spaced out for a moment.

"How is it at home?" She still was busy packing the things into the backpack she had lent from her nurse.

"It's big. And bright. In the living-room one wall consists of floor-to-ceiling-windows. The bedrooms are on the second floor. There's a pool on the terrace." he answered, trying to sum up the most important points of the twins' mansion.

"Sounds like a nice place to live."

He nodded in agreement. He never had felt the need to lead a fancy life but still, after having grown up almost on the streets it definitely was a change for the better.

Just as Sela zipped the backpack close Dr. Kano reappeared, armed with a stack of papers and a pen. "So. I just need a few signatures."

She laid the paper down on the table that still stood in one end of the room and waved Sela to her side. Yusei followed her. Dr. Kano read out a few of the most important sections and gestured to the fields where Sela had to leave her signature.

"Okay." she finally announced, rose and picked the papers up. "I guess that's it. With that you're officially released. Congratulation."

"Thanks." Sela replied and shook the offered hand.

"I'll accompany you to the exit." Dr. Kano announced and gestured for them to follow her as she started ahead.

With a shy smile towards Yusei Sela started to lift the backpack but he took it from her in one swift movement. "I'm gonna carry it." was the only explanation he offered her.

He didn't wait for her answer and instead followed Dr. Kano.

* * *

The girl watched how Yusei left the room but instead of rushing right after him she turned, studying the room one last time. She had woken up in that room. It had been the first thing she saw.

She had hated it.

Its painfully white painting, its plain, colorless furniture. The uncertainty, pain and loneliness connected to it. Still, now that she was about to leave it—hopefully for forever—she felt a little melancholic. She stroked over the bed with her hand, before sighing once. Then she finally broke away.

Yusei waited in the doorframe, studying her silently. He didn't say anything as she passed him, just followed her.

Outside Naomi was awaiting her. The nurse seemed a little sad. "I can't believe you're actually leaving Fate. It's so sudden!" she announced, hugging her tightly. "I wish you the very best."

"Thanks for the good treatment." the girl responded.

"Well, I guess we'll still see each other when you visit for the check-ups." Naomi noticed as she finally released the girl.

"Sure. Then see you. I bet you've still got a lot of work waiting for you."

Naomi waved her a last goodbye before she entered a room on their left.

"Okay, so your first check-up is in three days at 2pm. If there should be any reason you're not able to keep that appointment please call. Otherwise, don't strain yourself. You have to rest regularly. If your head starts hurting, if you feel nauseous or anything else contact us at once!" Dr. Kano reminded her as they went for the exit.

"Of course I will." the girl replied with a smile.

"Good. Then I guess this is goodbye for now." Dr. Kano shook her hand one last time. "We'll see each other in three days."

"That's the plan."

Then she turned to shake hands with Yusei as well. "You'll look after her, won't you? Her wounds aren't completely healed yet and you have to make sure she won't overdo it."

"Of course I will." Yusei answered.

The girl waved her goodbye and then stepped through the electronic doors, to the outside.

It was the second time she left the hospital and she already was leaving it permanently.

Nonetheless she couldn't bring herself to feel as melancholic as she had felt in her room a few minutes ago. The joy and anticipation dispersed all negative feelings.

In the parking lot she saw Chiaki's car and the chauffeur himself standing beside it, waving.

She hurried over to greet him.

Yusei got into the car beside her and after she had fixed her seat-belt they took off.

To the place she had once called home.


	8. Acting

Okay, so I bet you all didn't think you'd ever see that day, but I finally finished another chapter!  
Yeah, yeah, I'm so so sorry I let you wait for like forever (I mean seriously, it's been more than 8 month'!)  
And yeah, I've got all the usual excuses: I was writing my final exams, trying to find a place to study, and now I'm gonna move in October to a city 500 km away which means even more stress is coming.

But I really have to say how grateful and impressed I am, that I still get hits on this story everyday, eventhough it has to be on like the 30th page of the Yu-Gi-OH 5D's listing. And I'm even more impressed that I've got some new readers and even a review in the last 3 month!

So yeah, thanks to all my readers for sticking to this story. And special thanks to Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, ilikechocolate, MCRDanime for reviewing the last chapter. You got me fired up on continuing this story again!

And to ilikechocolate: Thanks for your advise, I usually forget to describe my characters because I don't want them to get anyhow Mary-Sue-ish and Mary Sue's usually start with a description of how gret they look.  
And since I don't want my readers to focus on their appearance I tend to forget to describe my characters.  
Still, this chapter I included a description of Sela's appearance, at least her features.

Okay, I enough of my rambling. You've waited long enough for another chapter, so I should stop taking up more of you're time. While writing I thought this chapter would end up as another filler, just like 'Fortune Cookies' but it came out more like a background chapter, where I add a little more depth to such characters as Chiaki. Actually I dicovered I quite like him.

So, here it is. I hope the long wait at least made my writing style get better. Ah, and please don't say anything about the latest episodes since I haven't had time to watch them yet and I'm stuck aroung 110. So I apologize for any things that aren't right anymore, but I take that as 'author-freedom'.

* * *

_**Chapter 7: Acting**_

"It's around here, isn't it?"

Sela's voice broke through the silence that had dominated most of their ride. Yusei turned to face her, a little startled by the sudden noise. He wasn't used to talk to somebody while he drove, since he usually used his D-Wheel. It was strange enough to be riding in a car but he had reasoned Sela might need someone by her side that she was used to, since the city was so foreign to her.

After all even her hospital had been somewhere out in the wild, more or less.

"What is?" he finally responded to her question and looked out of the window himself. He knew most of those streets really good by now but he had been that deep in thoughts that he hadn't kept track of where they were.

"The twins'..." She shook her head and corrected herself. "...Err, I mean, _our_ home."

That moment Chiaki turned left at the shop Rua usually bought his cards from.

"Yeah...", Yusei agreed, "We should reach the Tops in a few minutes. But how do you know?"

He mustered her with well-concealed suspicion. It would be possible that she recognized the area and that her memory was somehow returning. Still, he thought he knew her well enough and if she really _remembered _she would've probably said something like 'This seems somehow familiar. Is it possible that the twins live somewhere around here?'.

But instead her question had sounded like she already knew the answer.

A smile graced her lips, as she answered. "Oh, it's no big deal. I simply remembered the rough direction. After all the twins showed me where the Tops are just yesterday. And since that big building.." She pointed to the Tops half-heartedly. "... is getting nearer and nearer I figured we would be there soon."

Yusei simply nodded. What could he have possibly answered to that? After all she was completely right.

One moment he wondered if he should say something to reassure her a little just in case that she was intimidated by the prospect of living with the twins and him in the highest building of Neo Domino from now on. Still, he wasn't that good at talking much and Sela seemed rather distracted either way. So he just kept silent-after all he that was what he was best at.

* * *

Curiously the girl watched as Chiaki opened the security-gates that blocked the entrance to the Tops by typing the security-code into some kind of terminal.

"Is Neo Domino such a dangerous place that such measures are necessary?" she asked slightly suspicious.

Yusei shook his head. "Mostly it's quite safe. Those machines are just here because all those rich people like to rather be safe than sorry. Although I think they overdid it."

She hummed in approval. Chiaki had returned to the car by now since the gates were finally open.

However their ride was almost over, since right behind the gate was a garage and Chiaki parked at a parking space close to the end of the rather small hall-at least it was small if you compared it to the garage of the shopping center they'd been to yesterday.

"There's one parking space for every resident. But most of them have rented a garage somewhere else in Domino because they rarely are satisfied with one car.", Chiaki explained and the girl saw how he frowned in disapproval at the last part.

She chuckled a little to his' and Yusei's surprise. "Well, I like this car and can't imagine why I should ride in a different one every day."

A slight smile formed on the chauffeur's lips. "Yeah, exactly my opinion, Miss."

When she left the car she saw that the he got out as well. "Do you live with us as well, Chiaki?" she wondered aloud, although she distantly remembered something about the twins telling her that he didn't.

And indeed, Chiaki instantly denied. "Oh no, I don't. I've got an apartment within walking distance, if you should need me."

"That's not it. I just wondered how you would get home if you leave the car here, but if your home's within walking distance then I guess you don't need a car." The girl wondered aloud. "And please forgive me if I intrude your privacy but why don't you live in the Tops as well? I mean, you surely get paid enough, don't you?"

Chiaki chuckled, a sound the girl hadn't expected from the overly-polite driver. "Your worry honors me, Miss. And yes, the Atsushi's are really generous with their pay but even though I think the tops are a luxurious place to live at, I guess my wife would be mad with me if I wouldn't get home every night. And she simply loves our apartment to much to let go of it."

"You're married?" the girl blurted out. She just somehow hadn't expected the driver to be married. Probably because she had guessed that he was in his mid-twenties.

The chauffeur surprised her again by faintly blushing and running a hand through his blue hair, while smiling happily. "Yes. We married almost two years ago. Her name is Ayako. Nonetheless you almost don't know her since she was away on a business-trip for quite a while. But she came back a few weeks ago." The girl noticed how Chiaki seemed to draft into his own little world for a second before he snapped out of it and gave her an apologetic bow. "I'm sorry that I talk that much, it just got over me."

"Oh, Please don't apologize. I'm happy to see you open up a little. After all we were friends, weren't we?" It came out sounding more like a question than a statement.

"Of course we are, Miss." Chiaki responded with another slight bow, although this one was formal once again.

The girl simply sighed. "I guess the twins were right about you. It seems to be useless to tell you to lighten up."

Instead she just turned around and noticed that Yusei was silently standing by the car, obviously waiting for her to finish her conversation.

She smiled at him apologetically. "Sorry for making you wait."

He just dismissed her apology with a slight shake of his head.

"Okay, I think I have occupied enough of your time and my wife would really like to see me home so if you allow, I'm gonna take my leave now.", Chiaki declared with a bow. "If there is a problem or the need arises for you to return to hospital please don't hesitate to call me."

"Thank you very much, Chiaki.", the girl responded with a little nod and a smile.

"So, should we get going?" The girl turned to Yusei as she heard his voice. He was already standing at the end of the garage. Beside him she recognized some sort of door.

_An elevator_, she recognized.

Instead of answering she simply went to join Yusei. After he had pressed the button the doors opened almost instantly and they both entered.

_Wow, it's quite... extravagant._

In awe she turned around in the elevator to take in her surroundings. It was about the same size as the one in the shopping center, but unlike the strange wooden-patterned plastic this one had real, dark wood panels.

Only one wall wasn't plastered in wood: The wall opposite to the entrance was a gigantic mirror that reached from the top to the bottom.

Completely fascinated by the big reflecting surface she laid her hand on the mirror. It felt cold beneath her fingers and she involuntary smiled. In the mirror she was able to see how Yusei pulled some kind of key from his pocket and inserted it into a keyhole next to the panel with the various floors. Then he pressed the one on the top and pulled the key out again.

The elevator started moving without even startling the girl. Her attention returned from Yusei's to her own reflection. In the hospital she hadn't seen her face very often, because she didn't like to see the bruises. But now they were only faint purple sections in her face and if she hadn't known where they were, she wasn't sure if she'd have noticed them.

Only a few scratches were still present, but they didn't disturb her anymore.

Instead her gaze wandered over her appearance. The clothes the twins had brought her weren't outrageous. The t-shirt she wore was wide and had a duel-monsters logo printed on the chest. She had chosen this one because tight tops had felt uncomfortable on the wounds that hadn't healed yet because they'd been too deep. Her jeans were wide for that reason as well.

Her outfit admittedly wasn't the prettiest, but she had had much bigger worries back in the hospital than to look great.

But what fascinated her about the mirror the most was the way her face looked. Probably it was the artificial light within the elevator, but she was sure she was able to see a little yellow ring surrounding her eyes in her otherwise blue eyes.

And her auburn hair seemed to get a bronze tint, although the light was rather white.

She wondered how that was possible before a little chuckle escaped her and she finally turned her back to her reflection, leaning against the mirror instead.

Yusei eyed her questioningly. "What's it?"

"Oh, it's nothing." she said, shaking her head. "It just feels pretty normal to think about my appearance."

She was sure Yusei was about to reply to that statement, but he was interrupted by an electronic voice that informed them that they had reached their destination. Only split seconds later the elevator-doors opened and the girl momentarily was blinded by the sun that shone through the floor-to-ceiling-windows that covered the opposite wall.

She shielded her eyes and stepped out of the elevator. Her mind was blank as she tried to take in what she was seeing. Behind the windows she could see the sun being reflected by the water of the pool the twins had told her of the day before.

She saw a couch and a coffee table in front of it. They were located somewhere in the middle of the room, facing the television set. To her left a staircase led to the second floor.

Beneath the staircase was an alleyway, but she wasn't able to discern what room lay behind it.

The scent of fresh flowers lingered in the air and she noticed that a vase filled with some strange but beautiful blue flowers was standing on the coffee table. And it wasn't the only bouquet. Now that she looked carefully she noticed countless ones. They were located beside the TV and on shelves all over the room.

She tried to voice any of her thoughts but had to notice that her mind was completely blank.

Her search for words and thoughts was interrupted by the twins who suddenly appeared through another passage which lay exactly beside the floor-to-ceiling-windows on the right side.

"Sela!" Rua greeted her joyously and ran to hug her. When she flinched a little he released her instantly and looked quite guilty. "Sorry. It just got over me."

"No problem. You just caught me off guard." she lied and smiled reassuringly, although the bruises the little boy had hit ached painfully due to the momentarily applied pressure. It was a definite sign she wasn't completely healthy yet, but she decided not to care for the moment.

"Rua, you have to pay better attention to what you're doing. And think before you act." Ruka followed her brother right on track. After chiding him she turned to the girl and the joy was visible in her eyes. "Welcome home, I guess."

"Yeah, home..." the girl said and started to move towards the middle of the room. She carefully took in her surroundings. "Are there always that many flowers around?"

"Well, not really. Most of time we have _some_ but we thought we'd rather make the flat pretty for the first time you see it-or at least for the first time after you come back." Ruka answered.

"That's nice of you. But how did you know I was going to be released today?", the girl wondered aloud. She definitely had had the feeling as if her discharge had been quite spontaneous.

The expression on the twins' faces seemed to corroborate that thought.

"You're released!" Rua asked incredulous. "Does that mean you're gonna _stay _here?"

The girl nodded suspiciously. "You didn't know?"

This time it was Ruka who answered. "No, we thought you were just going to come for a visit. But it's great that you were released! That means you're feeling better, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does. And besides I don't seem to have any injuries that would make it necessary for me to stay in hospital any longer."

"Oh that's great! We have to tell our parents! And your parents! They're gonna be so relieved!" Rua exclaimed. "Or have you already called your parents?"

The girl felt a sudden sting and she knew it was her conscience. She hadn't even _thought _of calling _her own parents_ yet. She guessed it was because she didn't really know those persons. Or at least she didn't know them as well as Rua, Ruka and even Yusei.

Remembering that Rua had asked her something, she smiled a little and shook her head. "No. I haven't had time to yet." she lied. She could hardly admit she forgot her parents. It seemed heartless to her.

As if reacting to the sudden guilt, she felt her body stiffen. She reasoned that was due to the stress of having to lie to the twins.

She tried to ball her fist inconspicuously but she knew Yusei had noticed the change in her composure as he took a step towards the alleyway beneath the staircase.

"Okay, then you two should call your parents now..." he said to Rua and Ruka, "... while I show Sela where her room is."

Rua nodded hastily and ran toward a strange technical device that had been affixed to the wall beside the elevator.

Ruka smiled at the girl a last time before she turned around and followed her brother.

"Now then, shall we go?" Yusei asked.

The girl nodded and followed Yusei as he led her through the alleyway. Behind it lay a corridor and she counted four doors.

Yusei went to the second door on the right and opened it. She reasoned that this room was hers, so she entered it while Yusei held the door open.

Her room was somehow... normal. She saw a big bed on the left side. Opposite to the door were two big windows, through which she could see the pool.

In the right corner beside the window was a big red armchair seated.

She saw a desk, a chair in front of it and a few bookshelves on the wall. The shelves were filled with books.

On the desk was a monitor that obviously belonged to a computer. Beside it was a desk light and in front of it lay a pile of papers that looked like homework that'd been overdue for a long time.

Deep in thoughts she wandered into the room, touching the spines of the books on the shelves and letting her hand slide over the table top just to finally end up at her bed, where she absentmindedly sat down.

"So, what do you think?"

One moment the girl had forgotten that she wasn't alone but Yusei's voice reminded her of his presence. He had taken a few steps inside and was standing only a few feet away from her desk by now.

"I'm not sure... Everything's really pretty here. It just isn't like I expected.", she answered.

"Then what did you expect?"

The girl took another glance around the room. It looked comfy, but it didn't trigger her memory.

"It may sound strange, but I don't know. Just not this."

The way almost invisible wrinkles appeared on Yusei's forehead told her that he didn't understand what she meant but he was much to polite to say so.

To be honest with herself, she herself didn't fully understand what she meant. It was just... she had expected that her room would remind her of _something. _After all it was _her room. _There was almost nothing that told more about the personality of a person than his or her room.

So shouldn't this room feel...

She didn't know how to describe it... It should feel just _different._ Not as if she had checked in in a nice hotel, where she was on vacation with her friends and where she thought the room's were _comfy._ Because that was kinda how it felt-nice but impersonal.

She hid a sigh and plastered a rather fake smile on her lips instead. Yusei saw right through her facade-she was sure of it-but she didn't care right now. After all he joined in the act-she knew, because he always did.

It didn't register with her that that thought reached much deeper than the few days she knew Yusei-after all you wouldn't describe something as 'always' that had only happened two or three times.

Instead she wondered if that would be how they would behave around each other from now on-both of them acting. She acting as if she was alright and he acting as if he didn't notice that she _wasn't_.

It certainly would be easier for the twins like that. They had had to endure to much in the last week.

"Perhaps I just need to settle down a little, spend a night here and then everything will be like I expected it." she said with her fake smile, but the words sounded displaced to her-fake, like a feeble attempt to cover up the honest words of confusion she had let escape her mouth just a moment ago.

Yusei's nod was like a silent agreement-an agreement that he would join the act to exclude the twins from her troubles.

"Do you want me to leave?" he asked. That question could have sounded bitter or offended if it had been spoken by anyone else, but from Yusei she only heard honest concern. Probably he thought she needed her space to progress the new impressions and to feel at ease.

Her first impulse was to turn down his offer-after all she still enjoyed his company-but as she seriously considered it she noticed that it might be good to have some time alone.

She could still decide to ask for his company again since he would be somewhere in the flat anyway. If she didn't want to, she didn't have to be alone.

So opposing her first impulse she nodded. "I guess some time alone would be nice. I really need to think certain things through."

Yusei answered with a nod himself, although she was almost sure that nod was rather destined for himself than for her.

"I'll be in the living room with the twins if you need me.", he told her before he turned around and headed for the door.

Right in front of it he halted. Without turning around he said: "If you need to talk or something, don't hesitate to come to me. I won't tell anyone anything if you don't want to."

Then he left and the girl was left alone in the room.

And even though she knew he didn't hear or see it, she smiled-for real this time-and whispered: "Thank you."

* * *

Okay, so that's it. I hope you're not to dissappointed that almost nothing happened, but I felt that a few descriptions were needed by now.

Please review, because otherwise I won't know if you liked it or if my writing style is anyhow improving or if you'll stop reading if I won't add a little more action next time.

And I myself actually dislike those authors who say 'I won't continue before I get ... reviews' since I think it's important to write for yourself and not only for someone else and as an reader I always think 'Nooo, I can only give one review ;_;'.  
But as an author I have to say: Reviews are the only approval we authors get for our work and there is seriously nothing that makes an author write as fast as many reviews. And that counts in those completely easy reviews like 'I love your story. Please update soon!' altough I prefer a little more elaborate reviews.  
Still, remember: The more reviews, the faster a new chapter.

**So I decided to make a compromise I could live with: If I get more than 5 reviews I promise you to update again within one month. Otherwise I will update as well, but I don't know how soon that'll be.**


	9. Damn Imagination

Okay, so I know it's been longer than one month, even though I _did _get five reviews and I promise I'm sooo grateful for those reviews and I'm terribly sorry I'm such a slacker, but study hit me much harder than I expected it and I've hardly had any freetime the last four month', but now things seem to be calming down a little and so I really hope that I'll find the time to write more often from now on.  
Adding to the little time I had a little crisis with feeling self-conscious since I felt like my writing style was still so bad compared to some other one's I've read and I felt like I hadn't improved any even though I'm already writing in english for more than a year now, but I guess I'm currently getting over that.  
Although it didn't really help that I didn't get any review for my oneshot I published a week ago...  
But well, I hope this story won't be the same, now will it?

Oh, and since I've already been asked a few times: The story's set between the second and the third season. I figured that there must be some time between them, after all building daedalus bridge must have taken at least a few month.

Okay, so now to the review answers:

**ilikechocolate:** Thank you, thank you, thank you. Your reviews always get me motivated like no other and I'm really grateful that you always take the time to write so much that I get a complete feeling of what you exactly like. I'm really happy that you like my plot and most of all the characters, since so much depends on likeable and realistic characters. Please continue reading!

**khr lover:** Thanks for your review and I'm happy there's another one like me who doesn't even know most of the english names. As for your questions:  
1. Yeah, I plan on making pretty much everyone else appear later on. And yeah, Sela knows most of them, but only from afar. She hasn't really had that much to do with them till now, but I guess I'll get deeper into that matter when they really do appear.  
2. Well, as stated above it really is set before the WRGP.  
3. Since the deadalus bridge isn't completed yet Yusei is still living with the twins in the tops in Neo Domino.  
4. Okay, so I have to admit that I haven't ever been in hospital, but a friend of mine once told me that she had to eat some disgusting slimey food, so I just took that as an inspiration. I don't know if it's really like that, but I reasoned that it would be easier to eat and digest if it was squashy.

**Maict: **Trying really hard to do so right now, I promise you.

**ace1queen:** Thanks for your review. I'm always really impressed if I get reviews even though I haven't updated for like forever so thanks for pushing me back to work once again.

Okay, so once again thanks to everyone who reviewed. In addition to the long wait this chapter is a little longer than usually and after the last chapter's were a little depressing I somehow was in the mood to write something more upbeat, so I hope they didn't turn OOC all of a sudden ^^°  
So, here it is:

* * *

_**Chapter 8: Damn Imagination!**_

The first thing she noticed as she woke up was the sour taste in her mouth.

She swallowed a few times to get rid of it but there still was a strange aftertaste lingering on her tongue.

_What exactly did Naomi get me for dinner yesterday?_

Desperately trying to remember she sat up and yawned.

Then she opened her eyes and halted.

This wasn't the hospital room. The painfully white walls she had become accustomed to were missing, as was the usual furniture.

There was light shining upon her upper body, but it came from a different angle than usual, indicating that the position of the window was a different one as well.

Now that she payed attention to it the bed itself was not the same. It was harder-she could sit up without sinking into the mattress-but it wasn't really uncomfortable, just... unusual.

All those impressions passed her mind in the blink of an eye, before her brain really started working, forcefully trying to chase the clouds of sleepiness away that prevented her from thinking.

Immediately the impressions started to make sense as the memories of the previous day slowly resurfaced.

The simple explanation for all those changes was that this _wasn't _her _hospital_ room, since she had left the hospital the day before.

No, this was _her _room-which was the opposite from plain, white, _sterile_.

And the bed, which felt different but unbelievable comfortable beneath her, was _her _bed.

She had imagined how it would feel tosleep in her own bed once again but she hadn't imagined it to be so... _refreshing._

Yeah, that was right. Even though there was this horrible taste in her mouth, she felt relaxed and recovered.

And after she stretched her stiff muscles-preparing to get up-she realized that the reason for that taste wasn't something she _had_ eaten, but rather the fact that she _hadn't_ eaten anything at all the previous evening.

She remembered that she hadn't left her room again the previous night.

Yusei must have fended of the twins as well, since she hadn't be bothered at all. They had left her alone, which she was really grateful for.

The whole evening she had been overwhelmed by all those impressions that came crushing down on her. She remembered that after Yusei had closed the door behind him she had gone numb inside, only sitting on her bed for god only knows how long. Probably about half an hour or something like that.

Then she had risen to walk around once again, this time taking much more time to stop at everything. Not only stroking the backs of her books, but pulling them out and flipping through the pages as well.

Still, now that she thought about it she didn't remember anything about their content, not even a single word.

Then the memory started to get blurry, but she was quite sure that she had spent the rest of the evening sitting in the armchair beside the bookshelf, which faced the window, staring at the stars with a blank mind.

Only one thought had stayed in her memory, one thought that had spun through her mind while she watched the stars.

_They look the same. _

That was pretty obvious, since they _were _the same, after all, but her own room had seemed so foreign to her, that it had put her at ease to see something familiar.

But as she gazed over her furnish right now she already felt somehow reassured. It was as if everything in the room was gradually painted with her own color. No, that was wrong, it was more like it had always had that color and that she slowly started to be able to recognize it as _her _color again.

The smell of fried eggs finally lured her out of her room. Her last meal had been her lunch the previous day so right now her stomach was somehow taking over the command. It lead her to the kitchen where she found a plate with fried eggs, a bit of bacon and two slices of toast, standing on the kitchen table as if they had only been waiting for her.

Curiously she took a look around, expecting someone to come through the door to resume his or her meal, but strangely she saw no-one.

Only then it occurred to her that she didn't even know which day it was. Perhaps it wasn't weekend and the twins had school while Yusei was working.

_Well, I guess I'll start looking around after restoring some energy. s_he reasoned and sat down to feast on the prepared breakfast.

A closer look at the plate made her notice a little piece of paper on which _Sela _was written. She didn't recognize the handwriting, but she figured that one of the other flat-inhabitants had prepared it for her thinking about how hungry she must be after skipping dinner.

_Well, it must have been Ruka_, she reasoned, since this train of thoughts was so much like the little girl. Always considerate, worrying.

And the other two were much more... unlikely.

If Rua would have cooked the whole food it wouldn't have looked that neat, let alone how the kitchen would have looked.

And Yusei... that thought was just ridiculous. Yusei with an apron, preparing breakfast? No, that surely was a very very strange picture.

Perhaps she was wronging him but she couldn't imagine him to be able to cook. It just didn't fit the image she had developed of him in the last few days.

Immersed in thoughts she didn't notice the person approaching the kitchen through the corridor from the living-room.

"Oh, you're awake." a deep voice greeted her. "Good morning."

"Yu...Yu..Yusei!", she stammered, startled and blushing for no apparent reason.

Okay, imagining Yusei in an apron _was_ an apparent reason, but that had only been her imagination running wild, after all!

Yusei mustered her for one moment in which she prayed that those eyes only _looked _as if they could read her mind as if it was an open book.

He furrowed his brows, only ever so slightly so that she almost missed it but it wasn't strong enough to indicate that he had guessed the reason for the blush that refused to completely disappear from her cheeks.

Most likely he only thought her behaviour was a little strange but he apparently didn't bother with it too much since he passed her without any kind of comment.

She watched as he fetched a mug from one of the cupboards above the counter to fill it with a brown liquid from a silver thermos flask sitting on the counter beside the stove. The smell made it obvious that it was coffee.

"Do you want some too?" he asked, turning to face her, raising the mug slightly to indicate what the subject of his question was.

She shook her head. She had once accepted the nurse's offer and it had tasted terrible. She couldn't understand how anyone could possibly like that damn bitter liquid. The nurse had reasoned that it wasn't the taste itself but the caffeine which drew people to it, but the mere existence of decaffeinated coffee proved that theory wrong.

Still, no matter the reason why someone might like coffee, while Yusei was apparently on the pro, she was definitely on the contra side.

Noticing that she hadn't taken her eyes of Yusei for one second since he had entered the kitchen she forcefully redirected her attention to the still half-full plate seated in front of her.

When she heard the bright sound of glass scratching slightly over wood and the noise of the fridge being opened, only to be closed a few seconds later, it took all her willpower not to turn around and take a look at what Yusei was doing.

After all it would be rude to be so damn curious, wouldn't it?

A cup filled with yellow liquid startled her by suddenly appearing in front of her eyes.

She looked up and saw Yusei pass her and sit down opposite to her, placing his own mug in front of him too.

Then she almost doubted her senses as she saw a little smile cross his features. Not one as honest or kind as his previous one's but one that was only a tad away from being an outright smirk.

"Well, it would've seriously surprised me if you would've wanted some coffee.". He said and lifted the mug to his lips to take a sip of coffee. When he lowered it again the smile-half-smirk was gone as if he had swallowed it together with the liquid. "That thing's rather to your taste."

Just now she finally took a closer look at the cup he had placed beside her plate, or rather the yellow liquid inside.

_Orange juice._

Yeah, that definitely was her taste. At the hospital her breakfast had always been supplemented by a glass of orangejuice.

"Thanks.", she said with a smile and took a sip herself.

The liquid tasted a little sour at the beginning but within a split second took on a delicious, sweet flavour.

This juice was much better than the one she was accustomed to from the hospital.

She had to admit that the taste didn't quite complement the one of the fried eggs and the bacon, but right now she didn't care.

For some reason the taste of oranges mixed with bacon and eggs made her really happy and so she continued her breakfast, smiling to herself.

"You seem to feel better today." Yusei mused.

She looked up again, slowing the pace of her eating without actually stopping.

Since her mouth was full she nodded first, then gulped and added: "Yeah, I'm feeling quite good. Sleeping in my bed was a really replenishing experience."

"Glad to hear so.", Yusei said.

Silence ensued, only broken by the crunching of her breakfast and the occasional sips of Yusei.

Frantically she searched for something to say, unable to bear with the silence. She guessed that for Yusei it wasn't as uncomfortable since he seemed completely fine but for her the silence was simply strange.

Well, if she thought about it the whole situation was strange. Here she was, sitting in a flat in a gigantic city she had only seen in the distance for weeks, a city which had seemed unreachable. And she was having breakfast with a guy she knew for _three days only!_

But even though she couldn't stand the silence, Yusei's presence itself wasn't strange or uncomfortable, no, it didn't even seem unfamiliar.

It was as if it just had to be that way that he would sit there, focused on his mug of coffee as if it was the middle of his universe, eyes fixed on nothing in particular.

"So...", she finally intoned, making him lift his gaze to look at her. She gulped when she noticed how _blue _his eyes looked, with the sun streaming down from the window behind her, the cobalt color reminding her of an boundless ocean in the summer, with sunrays dancing over the waves...

It took her a few seconds to realize he had raised an eyebrow, obviously wondering why she stayed silent, and wordlessly ushering her to continue.

"Ehh, well...", she said, running a hand through her hair, trying to hide her embarrassment and blush.

If it worked or not she couldn't tell, since she didn't dare to look at Yusei again.

_What's up with my imagination today? This is completely ridiculous._

"I was just wondering, which day it was today.", she said, voicing the first thing that came to her mind that didn't include anything about Yusei. Still, she noticed how strange her question must have sounded and instantly added: "Because in the hospital every day was similar and I haven't watched TV or read the newspaper in a while and I was wondering where the twins were, since I haven't seen them anywhere..."

Her voice faded as she forced herself to end the ramble. Since when was she so damn _nervous _around Yusei? For the last three days she had been completely calm in his company. Even yesterday it had all been okay when she had been alone with him in her room and now she had difficulties only _watching _him.

Suddenly a little chuckling noise made her perk up her ears. She ignored her own resolution to not face at Yusei again until she had got the hold of her imagination again and instead looked up incredulously.

Yusei couldn't possibly have _chuckled_, could he?

But indeed, the person sitting opposite of her was looking perfectly calm, no sign of amusement or anything alike present on his features.

Nonetheless he was directly studying her, as if he wanted to make sure whether she still had something to say or if he should instead answer her question.

When she stayed silent he took that as an indication to reply. "Today's monday, so the twins are at school. Actually they left about half an hour ago, after Ruka insisted to make breakfast for you."

"Ahh, so it was Ruka after all!", she announced, and when Yusei raised an eyebrow questioningly at her outburst, she instantly blushed as she remembered her other... _theories. _Trying feverishly to fend if the resurfacing images it took her a few moments to realize that there was something wrong with that statement.

"The twins are going to school? But they told me they were home-schooled...", she wondered aloud, changing the topic before Yusei could possibly ask for the reason of her continuous blushing.

And seriously, if the twins were attending a school how could they have visited her for the last two weeks? After all they had always arrived shortly after the visiting time had begun so they couldn't possibly have been coming _after _school.

They didn't _skip _school for two weeks just so visit her, did they?

She was already feeling guilty when Yusei's voice broke through her thoughts. "Well, they were. But only while they having holidays which ended today. Usually they're attending the Neo Domino City Duel Academy.", he explained, easing her conscience.

"Oh, so that's why they could visit me everyday..." She looked up. "But what about you? Don't you have work?"

He gently shook his head. "I took a few days of, telling everyone I wouldn't take on any challengers for a week."

"So you're only dueling right now?", she asked and just as the words left her mouth she noticed how condescending they sounded. Somehow she didn't seem fitted for conversation today...

"Ah, that doesn't mean I think that is a bad thing or something like that!" she tried to explain. "I'm just curious...", she concluded, letting her voice trail of.

"It's no problem. I really 'only'duel right now. But the position of the King won't stay with me forever, and I think that's for the better anyway.", he said, sounding surprisingly grave. Just from the way he said it she could tell that he had thought about this matter a lot. "This 'job' brings a lot of work and only a little money from whenever one of my duels is broadcast. Even though I don't mind the work if it consists of dueling, I can hardly keep on relying on the twins to take care of me forever. I already owe them so much. So I'm currently trying to find a way how to earn money with a real job."

He paused for a moment, gazing into his cup as if to make up his mind whether he really wanted to continue his train of thoughts.

She only stayed silent, watching him, slightly awed by how openly he was talking to her. He didn't seem like the type of person to open up easily.

_We only know each other for three days..._

No, that was wrong. _She _only knew _him _for three days. He apparently knew her for a much longer time span.

"And even though the popularity of being the King helps, it isn't exactly easy for someone from Satellite to get a decent job around here.", he finally continued and she was concerned about the bitter tone that entered his voice at the sentence.

One moment she was about to ask about Satellite. She had been told the facts about it by her parents. About Zero-Reverse, about how it had become a place for outcasts, a giant dump for the garbage of the big city and about how much Neo Domino citizen hated Satellite residents.

But those had only been general stories and she wanted to know _Yusei's._

Still, she refrained herself from asking. The tone in which Yusei had said the last sentence made clear that Satellite was something really personal to him and she felt like she would be prying if she'd force him to tell her something about it.

She would ask him once she knew him a little better, once she wouldn't feel guilty for making him remember something he might not want to remember.

"Well, I bet you'll find something eventually.", she said instead, trying to lift the heavy atmosphere that had settled upon Yusei's last statement.

"Yeah, I guess so.", Yusei agreed and downed the final mouthful of his coffee. He stood up to place the empty mug in the sink.

Then he turned to her and said almost apologetically: "I still have something to pick up at a friend's place. Do you think you'll be fine here on your own?"

She nodded as an affirmation and raised herself placing her used dishes beside into the sink as well.

"Okay, then I'd better get going.", he said and turned, walking out of the kitchen and into the living room.

One moment she contemplated whether it would seem intrusive to follow him but she decided that after all she was living in this flat as well, so she might as well go into the living-room whenever she felt like it.

When she entered the room, Yusei was nowhere to be seen, but then she discovered that he was standing inside something akin to a little corridor, right on the left side of the staircase that led to the second floor.

At the end of this semi-corridor she saw a real door. Which made sense, now that she really thought about it. After all it wouldn't be very safe if the lift was the only way to get in and out of the flat.

"Ehm...", she said, drawing Yusei's attention towards her, who was currently shrugging into his blue jacket. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but what are you going to pick up?"

Slowly she moved towards him, until she was standing in the beginning of the corridor.

"Some spare pieces for my D-Wheel, over at Saiga's." Yusei replied while pulling on his brown boots. She noticed how worn out they looked, so she assumed that he must thoroughly like those shoes. Or that he didn't want to spent any money on new ones, which actually seemed like the more logical explanation.

"I already told him I'd fetch those pieces a few days ago, but I eventually didn't happen to have the time to do so. He isn't exactly living in the best region of Neo Domino. I would've taken you with me, if you wouldn't have wanted to stay alone, but I think it's for the better if you stay here and rest.", he added.

"Well, I feel quite rested, actually.", she pointed out before she could stop herself.

Right after the words left her mouth she wondered why had she said that. She didn't really want to join Yusei on his trip to this Saiga-person, since she wasn't too keen on meeting even more persons she was supposed to know but didn't.

"Perhaps some other time. That sort of district isn't exactly were you get a good impression of the city, so I highly doubt you would like it there. And I guess the twins would be mad at me if they came back and you were out with me instead of greeting them.", he suggested and pulled his helmet on so that she couldn't exactly tell if she really had seen the smirk on his face or if it had just been her imagination.

Considering how the breakfast had went it probably was the latter.

"Yeah, I guess you're right...", she admitted, feeling foolish for the little stab of disappointment she felt at the prospect that Yusei would leave her alone.

After all even when the twins or her parents hadn't been visiting her, there had always been _someone _in the hospital. No matter whether it had been Naomi to fool around with or Dr. Kano to have a little chat or just the nurses running around in front of her door, she had never been really alone.

And now she was going to be alone for the first time she could remember, in a huge flat which she didn't really know. But hell, it wasn't as if anything was going to happen, now was it?

"Okay, so do you know how to use the telephone?" he asked.

She nodded. Although she hadn't tried yet, she simply knew that she hadn't forgotten how to deal with the device affixed to the wall beside the lift.

"Good. My number's inside the internal phone book, so if anything's the matter, just call me. Chiaki's number's stored there as well, and if it's immediate better call him, since he'll only need a few minutes to get here.

As for Rua and Ruka; they should get home from school in about one or two hours, since they said they would get out of school quite early today.", Yusei explained. Then he opened the door, shoot her a last glance over his shoulder accompanied by a quick "See you later." and she hardly even had the chance to reply with an "See you." as well before he had already stepped out and closed the door behind him.

With a silent clicking noise it fell into the lock, leaving her all alone in the huge, unfamiliar flat.

_Now now, don't freak._

Trying to calm herself she took a deep breath and then turned around, studying her surroundings for the second time. Yesterday she had somehow been unable to take in all those new impressions, but as she looked at the room now, she already felt slightly at home here.

The flowers admittedly helped and she was happy the twins had decided to put them up.

There was only one big question: What should she do now?

After all there was hardly anything she really _had _to do. It only counted what she _wanted _to do.

She remained in the middle of the living-room, wondering if there really was anything she .

She could wander around the flat, find out what lay behind those countless doors.

Or she could examine the terrace and the pool, find out how far she could see from the railing.

But right now there was some place that was much more interesting to her: Her own room.

After she hadn't exactly been quite receptive yesterday she decided it would be the most interesting to examine her room a little more thoroughly. Perhaps she could even find some clues as to who she had been?

Yeah, that sounded like a good plan.

Back in her room she started to look around. She started with the desk, taking a look at the papers which appeared to be her homework. They seemed to be some sort of essay on the history of the card 'polymerization' but from this fast glance she couldn't tell whether she had studied that essay or written it herself.

Moving on she decided to skip the bookshelf for now and instead turned towards the little bed table that was seated on the left side of her bed.

Pulling open the top drawer she was greeted by the sight of a lot of magazines. She took out one with the title 'The 10 biggest discoveries in Egypt in the last 100 years'. It apparently was about ancient Egypt, just like the next one and the one after.

Taking out every magazine one after another she noticed that most of them were either about ancient Egypt or Dueling, only two were about D-Wheels, which kinda surprised her. The other ones were logical, after all she was studying duel-history, and that was inseparably connected to ancient Egypt, but why the D-Wheel magazines?

As far as she knew she didn't own a D-Wheel.

She flipped through the pages of most of the magazines, stopping at articles which piqued her interest and the time passed without her really noticing.

When she finally took out the last magazine she noticed a small, plain, black book lying there, previously hidden by the pile.

Curiously she reached for it, lifted it and turned it around to see what was written on the front.

When she saw the letters she stopped.

_Well, I guess that's the lead I've been searching for, after all..._

On the cover-written with some sort of silver pen so that the writing was clearly distinguishable from the black colour of the book itself-was one word: _Diary._

* * *

Okay, and that's it already. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and that you'll write me a review. I apparently broke my promise of updating within a month if I got five reviews, but even though it may be hard to believe it really made me write faster.

If it hadn't been for your reviews I might not have finished this chapter by now. Reviews are the only thing I get from this and they're my only chance to get even better so that you can enjoy my stories even more!


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